Errors in Using Date and Time

Today’s English
January 30th, 2017

Nowadays we are communicating with each other universally with the help of the Internet, Facebook, whatsapp and so on.  If you say that an incident happened on 5-8-2014, your communication might not be global.  Because to a Britisher, it will mean “August 5th, 2014” but to an American, it will be “May 8th, 2014”.  The confusion arises from the format they follow: date-month-year (England) and month-date-year (America). If your computer has inbuilt American dictionary, the same issue arises, especially when you type in excel sheet. Hence it is advisable to write, August 5th, 2014 rather than 5-8-2014.

Common errors in writing and speaking ( Date and Time)

1.Wrong: The internal test starts at 12 p.m.
Correct: The internal test starts at 12 noon.

2.Wrong: Suddenly I woke up at 12 a.m.
   Correct: Suddenly I woke up at 12 midnight.

3.Wrong: The meeting will be held at 4 P.M /10 A.M.
Correct: The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. /10 a.m. (always written in small letters)

4.Wrong : In 1600, (Reading: in thousand six hundred), there was no computer at all.
Correct: In 1600, (Reading: in sixteen hundred), there was….

5.Wrong: (Written) March 24th, 1986 (Reading) March twenty-fourth, nineteen eighty-six.
Correct: (Written) March 24th, (Reading) March the twenty-fourth, nineteen eighty-six.

Source: The Remedial English Grammar for Foreign Students by F.T.Wood