Learn English – IELTS Listening – Month and Day Format

datesielts

In an IELTS Listening question, I am supposed to write a date. The answer sheet gives:

23rd March / Monday 23rd March

Would March 23rd be a valid answer?

Best Answer

Writing the following dates:

  • 23rd March
  • 23 March
  • March 23rd
  • March 23
    and if the day of the week is mentioned in the listening snippet
  • Monday 23(rd) March

are all perfectly fine.

No mark should be deducted for omitted the ordinal abbreviation (e.g. 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th etc.) or swapping the month with the date. Of course this is subject to the actual exam question asked, which unfortunately, the OP omitted in their request.

To support my answer, I found the following reference in the official Australian IELTS website

The date format in British English

enter image description here

With or without a comma to separate the day of the week is basically a matter of style, not grammar. Note that the suffix -th is omitted in the example (Saturday, 13 April 2019) which supports my earlier point.

As for the year, commas are not necessary when you write the date in British English, but you can if you prefer this style.

Saturday, 13 April 2019

Related Topic