Knowing how to write a date (das Datum) in German helps you avoid communication mistakes, whether you're writing to a friend who is from (or speaks) Germany or booking travel accommodations for a holiday in Munich. In German, you need to say the date first, followed by the month and year, whether you're writing a date using numbers alone or a combination of words and numbers. In a variety of situations, dates also begin with an article (article) or preposition.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Using Numbers Only
Step 1. List the articles before the date
In some situations, such as when writing a letter or other formal writing, the date begins with the article “der” (meaning like the article in English) or “am” (meaning “on the date”).
For example, if you want to talk about an event that happened on January 22, 2019, you could write the date as “der 22.01.2019” (“January 22, 2019”) or “am 22.01.2019” (“on January 22, 2019 ")
Step 2. Write the date in day-month-year format
When writing a date in German, state the date first, followed by the month (in numeric format) and the year. Germany uses the Gregorian calendar with 12 months (from January to December).
For example, if you see the date “01.04.2019” in German, this date means April 1, 2019, and not January 4
Tip:
When typing a single-digit date or month, place a “0” before the date/month marker digit instead of a blank digit. For example, for July 4, 2019, you could write it as follows: “der 04.07.2019”.
Step 3. Separate the date elements with a period
Use a period after the number to represent the date and month. Do not insert a space after the period. You also don't need to put a period after the year, unless you type the date at the end of the sentence.
For example, to write the date January 12, 2019 numerically in German, you could write/type it as follows: "12.01.2019"
Method 2 of 3: Listing Words and Numbers
Step 1. State the day in advance if necessary
In certain situations, you may need (or simply want) to mention the name of the day when writing the date. Usually, you will need to include the name of the day when creating an event invitation or meeting notification. The name of the day followed by a comma.
- For example, you could write it like this: " Dienstag, 22. January 2019 " (Tuesday, 22 January 2019).
- In German, the names of the days of the week are “Montag” (Monday), “Dienstag” (Tuesday), “Mittwoch” (Wednesday), “Donnerstag” (Thursday), “Freitag” (Friday), “Samstag” (Saturday), and “Sonntag” (Sunday).
Tip:
In German, the names of the days are written with a capital letter as the first letter, as is the case in Indonesian. Monday is the first day of the week and Sunday is the seventh or last day.
Step 2. Record the date, followed by a period
The dot after the date number indicates that the number you are typing is an ordinal number. Unlike when writing the date using numbers only, insert a space after the period and before the month name.
For example, for July 4, 2019, you might write it as follows: “der 4 July 2019.”
Tip:
When using words and numbers to write a date, you don't need to use “0” instead of a blank digit for a single-digit date.
Step 3. Add month and year names
After the date, state the name of the month. Insert a space, then end the date entry with the year (in numbers). You don't need to add punctuation between the month and year.
- For example, for December 24, 2019, you could write it as follows: “der 24 December 2019”.
- The names of the months in German are: “January” (January), “February” (February), “März” (March), “April” (April), “Mai” (May), “June” (June), “July” (July), “August” (August), “September” (September), “October” (October), “November” (November), and “Dezember” (December). These names are quite easy to recognize and remember if you (of course) already know the names of the months in Indonesian (or English).
Method 3 of 3: Saying the Date Orally
Step 1. Begin with the article or preposition if appropriate
When writing or mentioning dates in German, you usually need to start the date with the article “der” (similar to the English article “the “) or “am” (meaning “on [date]”).
For example, you could say “der erste Mai zweitausendneunzehn” for “May 1, 2019”
Step 2. Read the date marker numbers as ordinal numbers
The dot after the number indicates that it is an ordinal number. The ordinal suffix changes when you specify a date with a preposition (e.g. “am”) or an article (e.g. “der”).
- If there are no articles or prepositions, ordinal numbers end in “-er”. For example, to say “October 5, 2011” (or the fifth day in October 2019), you could use the phrase “fünfter October zweitausendelf”. If you use an indefinite article like “ein” (which means something like “a “or “an “in English), even ordinal numbers need to end with “-er”.
- When using definite articles such as “der”, ordinal numbers are affixed with “-e” suffixes. For example, to say “October 5, 2011” (or the fifth day in October 2011), you could say: “der fünfte October zweitausendelf”.
- If the date begins with a preposition, ordinal numbers need to end with “-en”. For example, you could say “am fünften October zweitausendelf” to say “on October 5, 2011.”
Step 3. Use ordinal numbers to read out the month numbers
If the name of the month is written in words, you can immediately say the name of the month. However, if you're reading a date written in numbers only, read the month markers as ordinal numbers, instead of naming the month in question.
For example, If you see the date “der 01.02.2009”, read or mention the date as “der erste zweite zweitausendneun” (first day, second month, year 2009)
Step 4. Read the years before 1999 as hundreds, and the years after as cardinal numbers
The way you say numbers for years in German has changed since 2000. Prior to that year, years were read as hundreds. For 2000 and beyond, read the figures as they appear.
For example, 1813 is read as “achtzehnhundertdreizehn” (meaning “18 hundred and 13”), but 2010 is read as “zweitausendzehn” or “two thousand and ten”)
Tip:
Do not add the word “und” (“and”) when reading the year, unless it is part of a number. For example, 1995 is read as “neunzehnhundertfünfundneunzig” (“19 hundred 5 and 90”). However, the year 1617 is read as “sechzehnhundertsiebzehn” (“16 hundred 17”), and not “16 hundred and 17”).
