student asking question

"January the 27th" here, is "the" supposed to be there in the middle? I think I saw "January 27" more often, which one is correct?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

You could use either! Using "the" can emphasise the date and highlight it as more important. However, it can be used casually as well. Saying "January 27th" by itself could be considered informal. So for conversation, either is fine, but when it comes to formal writing, I suggest using "the." Having "the" before the day and month is also very common and safe to use both in conversation and writing. Ex: We'll be going on vacation on December the 11th. = We'll be going on vacation on the 11th of December. => the + [day] + of + [month] = We'll be going on vacation on December 11th.

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