Months of The Year in English with Useful Rules and Examples • 7ESL (2024)

When we are speaking about certain events throughout the year, it is important to be able to correctly refer to the different months of the year. In this article, we are going to be looking at how to say the months in the year as well as looking at various ways in which these words can be used in your written and spoken English.

Names of The Months of The Year

There are 12 names for the months in the year, we are now going to take a look at each of these before looking at how they can be used in a conversation.

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

You might also see some months of the year being written in a shortened form which is often a way of referring to them in an informal way. It is important to remember that not all of the months can be shortened, only the months with five letters or more i.e.Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.

12 Months of The Year | Video

Months Of The Year In The Present

If you are talking about something which is happening in the current month then you will need to refer to the month names in the present. Let’s take a look at some examples of this.

• It isMarch.
• We are now in the month ofApril.

Months Of The Year In The Past

When you are referring to an event which has happened in a previous month, you will need to form your sentences as follows.

• Last Octoberwe had a huge Halloween party.
• TheJanuary before lastwas when we visited New York.

Months Of The Year In The Future

If you are going to talk about something which will happen in a coming month, there are certain ways to refer to this. Let’s take a look at how you might do this.

• Next Februarywe are getting married.
• Lisa and Matthew are going to Venicenext month.

Months of The Year in Examples

Asking About The Months Of The Year

Quite often, you will find yourself in a situation where you are required to ask which month an event is taking place. This can be learned by taking a look at the following example conversation.

• Person 1: What month are you going on vacation?
• Person 2: I am going in March.
• Person 1: What month are we currently in?
• Person 2: It is currently January.
• Person 1: In what month does Easter occur?
• Person 2: It usually occurs in either March or April.

Common Questions With The Months Of The Year

There are a variety of questions which you may be asked when it comes to the months in the year. Let’s now take a look at some examples of these and how you might answer them.

• When is your birthday?
• My birthday is in November.

• In what month is Christmas?
• Christmas is in December.

• What month would you like to visit me?
• I would like to visit in April.

Other Examples

• That stretch of the bypass will be finished by January.
• He took over from the previous headmaster inFebruary.
• Anne is coming for a visit inMarchsupposedly.
• We have received your letter datedApril14, 1998.
• He made an official visit to Tokyo inMay.
• She was co-opted on to the committee lastJune.
• Fireworks have long been an American tradition on the Fourth ofJuly.
• We’ll take our holiday sometime inAugust, I think.
• She made her first and only space flight lastSeptember.
• He was headhunted by Barkers lastOctoberto build an advertising team.
• Beyond the windows, aNovembermidday was uniformly grey.
• The whole system will be fully operational byDecember1995.

Rules Surrounding The Months In The Year

As with anything in English, there are rules surrounding the use of the names of the months. However, this is something that is very easy to grasp. Since the months of the year are classed as proper nouns, they should always begin with a capital letter, no matter where they appear in a sentence. There is never an exception to this rule. Take a look at these examples:

• Marchis my favourite month because the cherry blossom trees start to bloom.
• My birthday is inAugust.
• My sister is due to have her first baby inSeptemberand she is very excited.

American And British Spellings

In many cases, the spellings for various things are different when using American English versus British English, however, the months in the year do not change their spelling.

Conclusion

Having the names of the months of the year in your English vocabulary can prove extremely useful when you wish to write about or speak about various events that may take place within them. Depending on when you are talking about the past, present, or future might depend on how you refer to the months. It is vital that you remember to always use a capital letter at the start of the name of each month to be grammatically correct.