How to Say and Write Dates in Italian

21st November 2023

Find yourself fumbling over dates in Italian? Learn how to say and write them with confidence, and avoid the common mistakes that trip up most learners.

No.117

Listen to the episode

It’s hard to travel in Italy without saying dates. 

You need them for the practical stuff, like booking transport and accommodation. 

And the fun stuff, like telling Italians about your plans and meeting up with new Italian friends! 

But saying dates can send you into a mini panic, because there are a few important details to get right before you can say them confidently. 

In this lesson, you’ll find out how to say and write dates in Italian and avoid the common mistakes that learners often make. 

By the end, you’ll be ready to say them with confidence during your next Italian adventure!

How to Say Dates in Italian

Look at this list of our Italian teachers' birthdays. Can you figure out the rule? How do we say dates in Italian? 

Stefano il 5 marzo

Cristina il 16 maggio

Annaluna il 28 luglio

Mary il 14 giugno

Marco il 10 novembre

It’s simple: we say "il" (the), followed by the number, then the month. Let’s see those dates with the number written out, just how you’d say them in conversation:  

il cinque marzo March fifth

il sedici maggio May sixteenth

il ventotto luglio – July twenty eighth

il quattordici giugno – June fourteenth

il dieci novembre – November tenth

Let’s see some examples of when you might say dates in Italy: 

Arriviamo il dieci aprile! We’re arriving on April tenth!

Ci vediamo a Roma il dodici novembre? See you in Rome on November twelfth?

Che giorno è oggi? – Il tre marzo What day is it today? – March third.

Partiamo il ventiquattro settembre We’re leaving on September twenty fourth

How to Say the Day in Italian

Attenzione, be careful, because there’s a twist! Look at the list of calendar days below. Do you notice anything unusual? 

1st – il primo 

2nd – il due 

3rd – il tre 

4th – il quattro 

5th – il cinque 

6th – il sei 

7th – il sette

8th – l’otto

9th – il nove

10th – il dieci

11th – l’undici 

12th – il dodici… 

In Italian, we say most days as a normal number. We don’t need to worry about learning how to say words like “the third” or “the twelfth”. We just say “the three” (il tre) and “the twelve” (il dodici).

But there’s an exception! For the first day of the month, we say il primo, literally “the first”: 

Il primo gennaio January first

Il primo febbraio February first 

Il primo marzo March first

Il primo aprile… April first

There’s just one last thing to know when talking about calendar days in Italian. Looking at the list again, do you notice anything interesting about the 8th and the 11th? For the days that start with a vowel in Italian, il becomes l’. 

The eighth – l’otto (sounds like lotto)

The eleventh – l'undici (sounds like lundici)

To say dates in Italian, it helps to know your numbers really well. For extra practice, head over to this lesson on Italian Numbers

Now you know how to say the days, let’s take a look at the months…

How to Say the Month in Italian

Buone notizie! Good news. As you might have already noticed, the months in Italian are fairly easy to recognise because they’re similar to English: 

gennaio 

febbraio 

marzo

aprile

maggio

giugno 

luglio 

agosto

settembre

ottobre

novembre

dicembre

When saying dates in Italian, it helps to know your months really well so that they come to you automatically. Learn how to remember and pronounce them in this lesson on the months of the year in Italian

Next, let’s learn about how to say the year… this is quite different compared to English! 

How to Say the Year in Italian

Read the examples below and see if you can figure out how to say years in Italian: 

2023 – duemilaventitré

1986 – millenovecentoottantasei

1952 – millenovecentocinquantadue

That's right, in Italian, we say the whole number! It's a mouthful, but over time you get used to it. To get started, focus on memorising these two centuries, because they’re the ones you’ll probably say most often: 

1900 – millenovecento

2000 – duemila 

And remember, practice makes perfect. See the section below on how to remember Italian dates for more tips. 

Now you know how to say Italian dates, it’s time to learn how to write them! 

How to Write Italian Dates

Did you notice anything interesting about the written months in Italian? No capital letters! 

gennaio

febbraio

marzo

aprile

maggio…

This is handy to know in situations where you might want to write a date in full, like this: 

il 28 aprile 2023

il 18 dicembre 2019

il 1° settembre 1997

Did you notice? When writing the date in full, we add a little circle to the top right of the number one, like this: 1°. We only do this for the first calendar day, because it stands for il primo. 

But most of the time, Italians simply write the date in numeric form, like this: 

28/4/2023

18/12/2019

01/09/1997

In Italian, we always write the day first, followed by the month. It’s easy to get confused about the order, so we’ll talk about how to avoid this, and other common mistakes, in the next section. 

Avoid Common Mistakes with Dates

There are a few things to watch out for when you’re learning to say dates in Italian. Here are the main ones: 

Mistake 1: Getting the order wrong

If you speak American English, you might find the order a bit confusing because it’s the opposite! 

For example, which day is 8/4/2023? 

Remember that in Italian, we always start with the day, so it’s April 8th (not August 4th). 

Mistake 2: Saying “il secondo”

To say the first day in Italian, we say il primo. For example, May 1st is il primo maggio. It’s tempting to apply this logic to the other days and say things like: 

*il secondo maggio 

*il terzo maggio 

But remember that in Italian, il primo is only the first day. All the other days are normal numbers: 

Il primo maggio May 1st

Il due maggio May 2nd

Il tre maggio – May 3rd

Il quattro maggio – May 4th…

Mistake 3: Using “il” with days of the week

As you know, we normally use the word “il” to talk about dates in Italian, for example: 

il 5 maggio May 5th

il 12 ottobre – October 12th

But when we say the day of the week, we leave “il” out. For example, we say: 

martedì 5 maggio 

giovedì 12 ottobre 

We don’t say: 

*martedì il 5 maggio

*giovedì il 12 ottobre

Mistake 4: Translating “on”

In English, we use the word “on” to talk about dates. In Italian, you should leave this word out. For example: 

Ci vediamo il 5 ottobre! See you on October 5th! 

Partiamo il 2 luglio We’re leaving on July 2nd

La festa è il 18 aprile – The party’s on April 18th

However we do use the word per (for) when we’re booking something for a specific date, just like we would in English. For example: 

Vorrei prenotare un tavolo per il 12 marzo.

I’d like to book a table for March 12th.

Due biglietti per il 28, per favore. 

Two tickets for the 28th, please. 

How to Remember Italian Dates

With all that information to take in, you might find yourself pausing and fumbling a bit when you need to say dates in Italian. Don’t worry, that’s normal! 

The best way to get past this phase is with lots and lots of practice. Try memorising how the most important dates in your life – Birthdays are a great place to start. For bonus points, include the years, too! 

For example, Katie was born on June 29 1986… 

il ventinove giugno millenovecentoottantasei

And Matteo was born on December 11 1982…

L’undici dicembre millenovecentoottantadue

Starting with real dates in your life is helpful because meaningful things tend to stick in your brain more easily, and you’re more likely to say them in real life. And once you’re comfortable saying these important dates, you’ll be able to transfer the same logic to any date you’d like to say. 

Another great way to practise is by learning some meaningful dates in Italy! 

Important Dates in Italy

Knowing about public holidays in Italy is handy both for understanding the culture and making travel plans. Here are a few examples: 

il 25 aprile: la Festa della Liberazione (Liberation Day)

il 2 giugno: la Festa della Repubblica (Republic Day)

il 15 agosto: Ferragosto (Assumption Day)

Travel tips: 

  • In cities, you’ll often find small independent shops closed on these days. In smaller towns, bigger shops like supermarkets can also close, so you might need to plan ahead. 
  • We recommend avoiding seaside destinations around the week of Ferragosto, il 15 agosto, because everywhere is extremely busy with Italians soaking up their vitamin D!

For a full list and more details, see this wikipedia post on public holidays in Italy.

Say and Write Dates in Italian: Review

Ben fatto! Well done. Now you know how to say and write dates in Italian, let’s do a quick recap. 

In Italian, we say il (the), followed by the number and month: 

il cinque marzo March fifth

il sedici maggio May sixteenth

il ventotto luglio July twenty eighth
il quattordici giugno June fourteenth

il dieci novembre – November tenth

For the first day of the month, we say il primo (the first): 

Il primo gennaio January 1st

Il primo febbraio February 1st

Il primo marzo – March 1st

For numbers which start with a vowel, il becomes l’, like this: 

L’otto (sounds like lotto) The eighth 

l'undici (sounds like lundici) – The eleventh

For years, we say the full number, like this: 

2023 – duemilaventitré

1986 – millenovecentoottantasei

1952 – millenovecentocinquantadue

You can write dates in full, or in numeric form: 

il 28 aprile 2023 28/4/2023

il 18 dicembre 2019 18/12/2019

il 1° settembre 1997 01/09/1997

A great way to learn dates is to start by memorising the most meaningful ones in your life, such as birthdays and other important occasions. 

How to Say and Write Dates in Italian: Quiz and Vocabulary Cards

Check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Here you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.

Quiz

How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!

Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to Say and Write Dates in Italian

Vocabulary

Arriviamo il 10 aprile = We’re arriving on April 10th
Ci vediamo a Roma il 12 novembre? = See you in Rome on November 12th? 
Duemila = 2000
Millenovecento = 1900
Duemilaventitré = 2023
Millenovecentoottantasei = 1986
Il primo giugno = June 1st
Il 12 novembre (il dodici novembre) = November 12th
L’11 dicembre (l’undici dicembre) = December 11th
Il 29 giugno (il ventinove giugno) = June 29th

Flashcards: How to Say and Write Dates in Italian

Remember the vocabulary from this lesson by downloading the digital flashcards

Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial

Transcript: How to Say and Write Dates in Italian

Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.

K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”. 

M: Che giorno è oggi? 

K: What day is it today? Il dodici novembre. The 12th November, or November 12th. 

M: Dates will come up a lot when you’re talking to Italians. When you’re talking about travel plans, booking things, and even when cooking!

K: It's true. But when it comes to cooking, you pay more attention to them than I do.  

M: Listen to our conversation. How many Italian dates can you hear? 

K: Hai fame? Faccio un piatto britannico, un “pie”!

M: Mmm! :) Ma il burro è scaduto il 10 novembre… ieri! 

K: È ancora buono.

M: Ma anche la farina è scaduta?

K: mm.. Sì il primo giugno, ma va bene.

M: Sì ma il primo giugno 2021! Andiamo al ristorante: offro io!

K: Let's break down the conversation. I asked Matteo: 

Hai fame? – Are you hungry? 

Hai – you have

Fame – hunger (in Italian, we “have” hunger)

K: Then I said: 

Faccio un piatto britannico, un “pie”! – I’m making a British dish, a pie! 

Faccio – I make 

Un piatto – “a dish” or “a plate” (in Italian it’s the same)

Britannico – British 

Un "pie" – A pie. I used the English word, because I'm talking about British food. 

M: Mmmm pies! I really miss going to the pub in London and having a pie and a pint of beer. 

K: That's why I wanted to make you one. 

M: Which I would usually love... but in this case, there's a problem with the butter: 

Ma il burro è scaduto il 10 novembre… ieri! – But the butter expired on the 10th of November… yesterday! 

Ma – but 

il burro – the butter

è – it is

scaduto – expired

il 10 novembre – the 10th of November, November 10th 

Ieri! – Yesterday 

K: Here’s a date. Il dieci novembre. 

M: Il 10 novembre.  

K: To say dates in Italian, we say Il, plus the number, dieci, plus the month novembre. 

M: Il 10 novembre.

K: In American English, I think the month comes first, and the day second. But in Italian it's the opposite. Day first, month second. 

M: And if you pause a lot when you need to say a date in Italian, don't worry, it's normal! 

K: It helps to start with a solid knowledge of numbers and months, which you can do in episodes 108 and 116. 

M: To get used to them, I suggest practising with the important dates in your life. For example, Katie, when's my compleanno, birthday? 

K: L'undici dicembre.  In this case, we say l, apostrophe instead of il, because undici starts with a vowel. L apostrophe undici, l’undici. And mine? 

M: Il 29 giugno. 

K: Bravo. And our dog, Brody's? 

M: Il 5 ottobre. Phew, we passed the test 😅

K: Coming back to my pie, I don't think one day will make much difference to the butter. So I say...

E’ ancora buono. – It’s still good

È – it is

Ancora – still 

Buono – good

M: Yes, but then there's a bigger problema. I asked: 

Ma anche la farina è scaduta? – But is the flour expired too? 

Ma – but

Anche – also 

La farina – the flour

È – it is

Scaduta? – expired? 

K: I'm quite flexible with the dates on foods. Matteo is more careful. 

M: Yes, I've probably saved us from food poisoning many times! 

K: Next, I say: 

Sì il primo giugno, ma va bene. – Yes, the first of June. But it’s fine.

Sì – Yes

Il primo giugno – The first of June

Ma – But

Va bene – It’s fine (literally: va = it goes; bene = well) 

K: Here's the next thing you need to know about dates in Italian. For the first day of the month, we say "the first". Il primo. 

M: Il primo

K: So the first day of January is: 

M: Il primo gennaio 

K: The first day of February...

M: Il primo febbraio

K: And so on. But we only use it for the first day. For all the other days, it's just the number – due, tre, quattro etc. So the second day of January is “the two January”: 

M: Il due gennaio 

K: The third day

M: Il tre gennaio

K: Etcetera. Dates in Italian are actually simpler than English, because we don't need to worry about how to say the third, the twelfth etc. We just say "the three" (il tre) and "the twelve" (il dodici). 

M: The only exception is the first, il primo

K: That's when the flour expired. In fact, Matteo said: 

M: Sì ma il primo giugno 2021! – Yes, but the first of June 2021! 

Sì – yes

ma – but

il primo – the first

giugno – June

2021! – 2021 [twenty twenty one, literally two thousand twenty one]

K: Understandably, Matteo doesn’t like the idea of eating a pie with flour from 2021. So he suggests: 

Andiamo al ristorante: offro io! – Let’s go to the restaurant, it’s on me. 

Andiamo – We go 

Al – to the 

Ristorante – restaurant 

Offro – I offer

io! – I! (this is how Italians add emphasis, I’m the one who’s offering, with I, io at the end). 

K: Let's review dates one more time. Il, plus number, plus month. November 12th, literally "the twelve November"

M: Il dodici novembre

K: Brody’s birthday, October 5th, the five October

M: Il cinque ottobre

K: Only on the first day, we say “the first”. For example, June first, the first June

M: Il primo giugno 

K: Let's listen to the conversation again: 

K: Hai fame? Faccio un piatto britannico, un “pie”!

M: Mmm! :) Ma il burro è scaduto il 10 novembre… ieri! 

K: E’ ancora buono.

M: Ma anche la farina è scaduta?

K: mm.. Sì il primo giugno, ma va bene.

M: Sì ma il primo giugno 2021! Andiamo al ristorante: offro io!

K: There are a couple more important details and mistakes people often make when saying dates in Italian. For example, saying the year also takes some practice! 

M: You’ll learn more in the blog post for this episode. There’s also a quiz and vocabulary cards to help you practise and remember everything. You can go to the lesson by clicking the link in the description. 

K: See you next time, or as we say in Italian...

M, K: Alla prossima! 

Join our Italian club

To get mini lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a member.

Mamma mia! You’ve signed up – but without our weekly free lesson

Our free weekly lesson is a great introduction to learning Italian in a fun and friendly way. No boring grammar or lists of random words. It’s all about real Italian conversation!

Be the first to hear when registration opens!

Our online school opens its doors to new students three times a year. The only way to secure your place is to join up during this time – sign up to our newsletter today so you don't miss out.

Bellissimo!