Ordinal numbers are those used to indicate a progression.”.

Surely numbers within dates are one of the earliest forms of ordinal numbers in that they depict the progression of days through a month?

At one point during the test, I was to write the next weeks date ‘In full form’ and I did. “May 7th 2011″. Of course, it was wrong, as the ‘th’ was unnecessary; therefore I got dropped a Mark, leaving my near perfect score of one-hundred to ninety-nine.

I wouldn’t mind much, but the fact that it was near perfect and the Mark I lost was something trivial, I couldn’t help but be frustrated.

You WRITE: October 8, 2010 but pronounce it (October eighth two-thousand ten). Same with European dates: 8 October 2010. But pronounce it like “the eighth of October.”

In school I am required to use MLA (Modern Language Association) format for all my papers. I own the “MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers” (7th Edition). They favor using the European style of dating. Thus that is the style with which I date my papers for English class, even though I am American. MLA says that you DO NOT put the “st, rd” et cetera after the number when writing it. It is incorrect!!! This is NOT just for American dates, but for European also.

In the MLA book, section 3.5.2 it says this is how you write a date:
“IN DATES
1 April 2007
April 1, 2007″

Ok? So whether you’re writing the date using American or European style, the only letters you should be writing are for the name of MONTH.

You may prefer not to use the ordinal abbreviations, but surely there is no rule compelling one to drop them. At least, there isn’t British or Australian English. Personally, I see their absence as a kind of crude shorthand. So, ‘December 4′ sounds like ‘December four’ not ‘December fourth’. Written in the British/Australian standard order makes it sound even worse, i.e. ‘four December’. Ugh.

Is this really an American style rule?!

In Quebec, Canada, we have the confusion of living in two languages, which creates even further problems. Thus, in French, I use the International format YYYY-MM-DD (only, in French, it would be “aaaa-mm-jj”) and, in English, I can use either the MM/DD/YYYY or the DD/MM/YYYY or the YYYY/MM/DD formats. That is why I, personally prefer to use the International format all the time, in order to avoid any misunderstandings in either language. Unfortunately, the computer software does not always allow for it.

Also, I write February 14, 2011 but, if the year is not included, then I write February 14th. The Canadian Style – A Guide to Writing and Editing allows for both formats.

Having the “Old Country” as our birth mother, yet living next door to the U.S., where most of our books come from, leads us to many such compromises. Add to that, the French factor here in Quebec and you find many confused Anglophones who spend a lot of time trying to get it right.

In my entourage, I am known as a stickler for proper grammar and spelling (partly in self-defence against the awful inroads people –myself included– using two languages interchangeably can wreak); however, given the complexities of the English-speaking world, it is better (and less stressful) to keep a reasonable perspective on it all. Hence my “you do it your way and I’ll do it mine” attitude when it comes to other countries and, indeed, other provinces in my own country.