Deutsch — Dates
German dates use ordinal numbers, which change their ending by case. The date itself: der dritte Mai; on a date: am dritten Mai; the year is usually said with no preposition: 2020.
How it works
Build the day from an ordinal ( -te up to 19, -ste from 20 ). As a naming form it takes the nominative: der dritte Mai. After a preposition the case changes the ending: am dritten Mai (dative, for "on"), den dritten Mai (accusative, e.g. in letters). In figures the ordinal is marked with a period: 3.5.2020 (day.month.year). Years are read as plain numbers with no preposition — 2020 — or optionally im Jahr 2020.
Forms
| German | Use / meaning |
|---|---|
| der dritte Mai | naming a date (nominative) |
| am dritten Mai | on the third of May (dative, "on") |
| den dritten Mai | the third of May (accusative, e.g. in dated letters) |
| 3.5.2020 | written date: day.month.year |
| der 3. Mai 2020 | period marks the ordinal in figures |
| 2020 | year read as a plain number, no preposition |
| im Jahr 2020 | optional fuller form "in the year 2020" |
Good to know
Do not add a preposition to the year: say ich bin 1998 geboren, never "in 1998" (that English pattern is a common mistake). Also mind the ending: the naming form is der dritte Mai, but after am it must become am dritten Mai — not "am dritte Mai".