How to Write German Dates (and Say Them Aloud)

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The language tutors at Language Academia explain how to write German dates with words and numbers

Co-authored by Alexandra Hamer and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: January 19, 2026 Fact Checked

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• Using Only Numbers
|
• Including Words and Numbers
|
• Saying the Date Aloud
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• Tips

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Whether you're writing a letter to a German friend or booking travel accommodations for a trip to Munich, knowing how to write the date (das Datum) in German will help you avoid miscommunication. In German, whether writing the date using only numbers or using a combination of words and numbers, you list the day first, followed by the month, then the year. In this article, we break down how to write German dates using only numbers, numbers and words, and even explain how to read them aloud, with help from the language tutors at Language Academia. Read on to sharpen your Deutsch!

Proper Date Format in German

The language tutors at Language Academia say you write dates in German using the day.month.year format. For example, if you were writing December 10th, 2025, you’d write 10.12.2025. When including words, start with the number of the day, put a period after, and then say the month and year (der 10. Dezember 2025).

Steps

Section 1 of 3:

Using Only Numbers

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1. 
   1
   Include an article before the date. Language Academia says to start with the masculine article der. This means “the.” Or, use the article am, meaning "on" or "on the."

   • You add der or am in some situations, such as in letters or other formal writing.
   • For example, if you wanted to talk about an event that happened on January 22, 2019, you would write der 22.01.2019 to mean "the 22nd of January 2019," or am 22.01.2019 to mean "on the 22 of January 2019."

   Meet the wikiHow Expert

   Language Academia is a private, online language school founded by Kordilia Foxstone. Kordilia and her team specialize in teaching foreign languages and accent reduction.
2. 
   2
   Write the date in day-month-year format. When writing a date in German, Language Academia says to list the day of the month first, followed by the numeral for the month, followed by the year. Germany uses the Gregorian calendar, with 12 months from January through December.

   • For example, if you saw 01.04.2019 in German, this date is April 1st, 2019 – not January 4th.

   Tip: When dealing with a single-digit day or month, put a "0" before the digit to act as a placeholder. For example, for July 4th, 2019, you would write der 04.07.2019.

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3. 
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   Separate the parts of the date with periods. Language Academia says the numbers for the day, month, and year are separated by periods. Do not include a space after the period. There's no need for a period after the year unless the date happens to fall at the end of a sentence.

   • For example, if you wanted to write the date January 12, 2019, numerically in German, you would write "12.01.2019".
   • As another example, Language Academia says February 14, 2025 is written as “14.02.2025.”
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Section 2 of 3:

Including Words and Numbers

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1. 
   1
   List the day of the week first if necessary. In some situations, you may need (or simply want) to include the name of the day of the week when writing out a date. Usually, you would do this on an invitation to an event or a notification of a meeting. Language Academia explains that “weekdays are added before the date, followed by a comma (,).”

   • For example, you might write "Dienstag, 22. Januar 2019." (Tuesday, 22nd January 2019).
   • As another example, Language Academia says you’d write "Freitag, der 14. Februar 2025." (Friday, 14th February 2025).
   • In German, the days of the week are:
     • Montag (Monday)
     • Dienstag (Tuesday)
     • Mittwoch (Wednesday)
     • Donnerstag (Thursday)
     • Freitag (Friday)
     • Samstag (Saturday)
     • Sonntag (Sunday).

   Tip: In German, the days of the week are capitalized just as they are in English. Monday is the first day of the week and Sunday is the last day of the week.
2. 
   2
   Write the number of the day followed by a period. Language Academia says to start with “der” followed by the day and a period. The period (or full-stop) after the numeral indicating the day of the month signals that the number is an ordinal. Unlike when writing the date using only numbers, there is a space after the period and before the name of the month.

   • For example, you would write "July 4, 2019" as der 4. Juli 2019.
   • As another example, you would write "February 14, 2025" as der 14. Februar 2025, says Language Academia.
   • Language Academia notes that “der” can be omitted. So, it’s also acceptable to write “Freitag, 14. Februar.”
   • On the other hand, Language Academia explains that “if the dative case is required, the article ‘der’ becomes ‘dem,’ and the date is almost always preceded by ‘am.’” For instance, you’d write “am Freitag, dem 14. Februar.”

   Tip: When using both words and numbers to write the date, you don't need to include a "0" as a placeholder for single-digit days.
3. 
   3
   Add the name of the month and the numerals for the year. After the day of the year, write out the name of the month, says Language Academia. Type a space, then close your date with the numerals of the year. There's no punctuation between the month and the year.

   • For example, you would write "December 24, 2019" as der 24. Dezember 2019.
   • The months of the year in German are:
     • Januar (January)
     • Februar (February)
     • März (March)
     • April (April)
     • Mai (May)
     • Juni (June)
     • Juli (July)
     • August (August)
     • September (September)
     • Oktober (October)
     • November (November)
     • Dezember (December).
   • The months are fairly easy to recognize and remember in German if you already know the months of the year in English.
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Section 3 of 3:

Saying the Date Aloud

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1. 
   1
   Start with an article or a preposition if appropriate. When you write or say the date in German, you typically precede the actual date with der (meaning "the"), says Language Academia. You can also say am (meaning "on").

   • For example, you would say der erste Mai zweitausendneunzehn for "the first [of] May 2019."
   • As another example, Language Academia says Freitag, der 14. Februar is read as “Freitag der vierzehnte Februar.” They explain that the ending "te" is added to the numerical portion of the date and the letter “r” is omitted by adding the masculine article "der."
   • However, Language Academia says you don’t always have to add “der.” For example, Freitag, 14. Februar is read as “Freitag vierzehnter Februar.” They explain that the ending "ter" is added to the numerical portion of the date.
2. 
   2
   Read the number of the day as an ordinal. The period after the numeral indicates that this number is an ordinal. The ending of the ordinal changes if you say the date along with a preposition, such as am, or an article, such as der.

   • If there is no article or preposition, the ordinal ends in -er. For example, you would say fünfter Oktober zweitausendelf to mean "5th October 2011."
   • If you happen to use an indefinite article, such as ein (meaning "a" or "an"), you would also end the ordinal with -er.
   • When using a definite article, such as der, the ordinal ends in -e. For example, you would say der fünfte Oktober zweitausendelf to mean "the 5th [of] Oktober 2011."
   • If a preposition precedes the date, the ordinal ends in -en. For example, you would say am fünften Oktober zweitausendelf to mean "on [the] 5th [of] Oktober 2011."
3. 
   3
   Use an ordinal to read the number of the month. If the name of the month is written out, you would just say the name of the month. However, if you're reading a date in German that's written using only numbers, you read the month as an ordinal number rather than saying the name of that month.

   • For example, if you saw der 01.02.2009, you would read it as der erste zweite zweitausendneun, or "the first [month and] second [day of] two thousand nine."
4. 
   4
   Read years before 1999 as hundreds and later years as cardinal numbers. The way you say the numbers for the years in German changed beginning in the year 2000. Before that year, numbers were read as hundreds. For the year 2000 and beyond, read the number as it appears.

   • For example, you would read the year 1813 as achtzehnhundertdreizehn, meaning "18 hundred 13." However, the year 2010 is read zweitausendzehn, or "2 thousand 10."
   • As another example, Language Academia says 2025 is read as “zweitausend fünfundzwanzig.”

   Tip: Don't add the word und (and) when reading the year, unless it's part of the number. So 1995 would be neunzehnhundertfünfundneunzig, or "19 hundred 5 and 90," but 1617 would be sechzehnhundertsiebzehn, or "16 hundred 17."
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Tips

• Most ordinals in German are formed by adding -te to the end of the number word. However, there are a couple of exceptions: "first" is erste and "third" is dritte.
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• Learning German takes time, patience, and practice, so don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t getting a grasp on things. Just keep practicing, and don’t be afraid to ask for help!
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