Writing dates and holidays

If you write to people around the world, it's easy to forget that not everyone knows the dates of your national holidays. You can avoid making your reader scratch his or her head in confusion by writing the exact date.

For example, instead of just writing "We'll need the documentation before Labor Day," write "We'll need the documentation before Labor Day (September 7)."

Or, instead of "I'll be back after Chinese New Year," be more explicit and write "I'll be back after Chinese New Year (2nd February)."

There are a number of ways of writing dates in English. The most common options tend to be writing month then day (September 7) or day then month (2nd February). You can also give the month, date and year (February 2, 2009).

However, avoid using a number-only format, such as 2/7/09. This would be interpreted as 2nd July, 2009 in British English, but 7th February in American English.