How to Use a Comma in Dates

Graduates in front of building.jpg

Commas, periods, quotation marks--it can be hard to remember all of the rules for punctuation, particularly once you are out of school. Fortunately, when it comes to writing out dates, the rules for comma usage are pretty straightforward.

1 Use a comma to separate numbers

Use a comma to separate numbers. When the day of the month and the year appear side by side, a comma is used to separate them. For example, in "July 21, 2008," a comma separates "21" and "2008."

Vocabulary Builder

2 Use a comma to separate words

Use a comma to separate words. When the day of the week and the month appear side by side, a comma is used to separate them: Monday, July 21, 2008.

3 Use a comma after the date in a sentence

Use a comma after the date in a sentence. For example, in "On July 21, 2008, the mail arrived later than usual" or "On July 21, the mail arrived later than usual," a comma separates the last element of the date from the rest of the sentence.

4 Do not use a comma

Do not use a comma when writing a date in military or European format. For example: 21 July 2008.

  • As a general rule, no comma is needed to separate number and word elements of a date from one another.
  • Consider writing dates in European format to eliminate the use of commas altogether.

Teresa R. Simpson is a writer from Memphis, Tennessee. She attended The University of Memphis where she took journalism and creative writing courses. She writes on a wide variety of subjects but her favorite topic is parenting. She is the author of two books, The Everything Baby Sign Language Book and Memphis Murder and Mayhem.

×