6 Time
6.1 Dates
Dates are often written in numbers. In the UK we always put the number first, followed by the month and finally the year.
| Month | Abbreviated form | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | January | Jan |
| 2 | February | Feb |
| 3 | March | Mar |
| 4 | April | Apr |
| 5 | May | May |
| 6 | June | Jun |
| 7 | July | Jul |
| 8 | August | Aug |
| 9 | September | Sep |
| 10 | October | Oct |
| 11 | November | Nov |
| 12 | December | Dec |
Examples
12th October 1981 could be written as 12.10.81
17th May 2024 could be written as 17/May/2024
Activity 21: dates on a form
You are completing a form where the date is requested in the format DD/MM/YYYY. If you were born on the 19th February 1985, we write this as 19/02/1985.
The 5th November 1995 could be written as 05/11/1995.
Using this format:
- Write the date of birth 12th August 2011
- Write your date of birth.
Answer
12th August 2011 can be written as 12/08/2011. (The second answer depends on your date of birth.)
Units of time
Find below the most frequently used units of time.
| 60 seconds | = | 1 minute |
| 60 minutes | = | 1 hour |
| 24 hours | = | 1 day |
| 7 days | = | 1 week |
| 12 months | = | 1 year |
| 52 weeks | = | 1 year |
| 365 days | = | 1 year |
| 366 days | = | 1 leap year (1 extra day) |
| 1 decade | = | 10 years |
| 1 century | = | 100 years |
| 1 millennium | = | 1000 years |
From the table we can see that 1 minute has 60 seconds, 1 hour has 60 minutes, 1 day has 24 hours and so on. A year has 365 days except every fourth year (leap year) we have an additional day in February (29th February).
Celebrations and original dates
Some events happen every year, e.g. birthday, anniversary. Other events happen less frequently, e.g. Olympics, FIFA World Cup. Some events celebrate a particular number of years from an original date.
Work out the original date for the following events:
| Celebration | Date of celebration | Original date |
|---|---|---|
| Decade (10 years) | 4 June 2007 | |
| 21st birthday | 11 November 2000 | |
| Millennium (1000 years) | 1st January 2000 | |
| Retirement (45 years) | September 2008 | |
| Centenary (100 years) | 17 September 2004 | |
| Diamond Jubilee (60 years) | June 2004 |
Answer
Answers:
| Celebration | Date of celebration | Original date |
|---|---|---|
| Decade (10 years) | 4 June 2007 | 4 June 1997 |
| 21st birthday | 11 November 2000 | 11 November 1979 |
| Millennium (1000 years) | 1st January 2000 | 1st January 1000 |
| Retirement (45 years) | September 2008 | September 1963 |
| Centenary (100 years) | 17 September 2004 | 17 September 1904 |
| Diamond Jubilee (60 years) | June 2004 | June 1944 |