The date

1) General

How to say the year

You write	You say
1900	nineteen hundred
1901	nineteen hundred (and) one nineteen oh-one
1995	nineteen ninety-five
2000	two thousand twenty hundred
2002	two thousand (and) two twenty oh-two
2010	two thousand (and) ten twenty ten

You normally "split up" the year in tens.

1985 is split up in 19 and 85. (You say: nineteen eighty-five).

From 2000 until 2009 the year is normally not split up. You say: two thousand; two thousand (and) one. The word >and< is often left out. From 2010 on the year is split up again.

2010 is split up in 20 and 10. (You say: twenty ten).

2) Writing and saying the date in British English

rule: day - month - year

		day		month	year
You write:		1st		January,	2010
You say:	the	first	of	January	twenty ten

Note: The two letters at the end of the number and the comma are often left out.

3) Writing and saying the date in American English

rule: month - day - year

	month		day	year
You write:	January,		1st	2010
You say:	January	the	first	twenty ten

4) Sample sentences and the correct prepositions:

I was born in 1999. (Use in with the year.)
I was born in August. (Use in with the month.)
I was born on 12th May, 2000. (Use on in the complete date.)

Somtimes BC or AD is added after the year.

Example:
1060 BC (ten sixty Before Christ)

1060 AD (ten sixty Anno Domini) - This is Latin for >in the year of the Lord<.

5) Note

It is common to use numbers instead of months.

British English	American English
13/11/2010 13-11-2010 13.11.2010	11/13/2010 11-13-2010 11.13.2010

If you write 4/8/1995, it is the 4th August 1995 in Britain, but it is April 8th, 1995 in the USA.