How to write the date 31 December in British English?

Writing date 31 December in English can be done in a variety of ways. Here are some common ways to write the date 31 December in British English.

In British English, which is mainly used in Australia, the day is followed by the month, which is then followed by the year. The 31st day of the month December, in the year 2019 , might be written in full (in order of complexity):


  • 31 Dec
  • 31 December 2019
  • 31st December 2019
  • the 31st of December 2019
  • the 31st of December, 2019

The last two date formats are more formal. The “the” and “of” are optional but if you do use them, you must add both “the” and “of.” It is incorrect to say only “31st of December” or “the 31st December.”

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

If you wish to add the name of the day, it should come before the date, and should either be separated by a comma or joined by “the” and “of.”


  • thirty-first, 31 December 2019
  • thirty-first the 31st of December, 2019


31 December | Write the correct date format in British English words

How to write the date 31 December in numbers?

If you prefer to abbreviate the date, you can use the following style in British English. Again, the day comes first, then the month, then the year.


  • 31/12/19 or 31.12.19 or 31-12-19
  • 31Dec2019 or 31-Dec-19

The most commonly used separator in the all-numeric date format is a forward slash (/). However, you can also use a hyphen (-) or a period (.).



What is the correct date format (31 December) in English?

How you do this usually depends on whether you write a formal letter or an informal note; or whether your use the British or American date format. As you can see from the examples below, there are a number of ways in which you can write the same date.

A general rule: the more complicated the style of date, the more formal it is.



  • 31th or 31rd or 31st or 31nd
  • 31th or 31rd
  • 31th or 31st
  • 31th or 31nd
  • 31rd or 31th
  • 31rd or 31st
  • 31rd or 31nd
  • 31st or 31th
  • 31st or 31rd
  • 31st or 31nd
  • 31nd or 31th
  • 31nd or 31rd
  • 31nd or 31st
  • how do you write 31 December 2019
  • 31st of December
  • 31 December spelling
  • December in number form
  • 31st December or December 31st