Hi this is Tutor Nick and this is lesson 38. Today we're going to look at when to
use the st , nd , or the th with the dates. Yeah this is one that I come across a lot where I see
it used incorrectly a lot . And it sometimes even confuses students with
English as a second language of how to how to pronounce it sometimes. I even see
native speakers make a mistake in the writing some. I've even seen them in the
same article sometimes write it correct once and then write it wrong another
time. So let me just let's just go over it quickly. Okay here's the first note if
you write a date use the name of the month do not write
the st ,nd, rd or th. The tricky part for many students is that these dates are
still pronounced as ordinal numbers. Remember ordinal numbers that's 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th.
The other one is cardinal numbers which is 1 2 3. Okay so dates are always
pronounced as ordinal numbers Okay so let's uh let's take a, let's look
at the example here. This is pronounced March 10. You notice that we do not
write th here. You still have to pronounce it as tenth March 10. April
3 June 2 etc. Yes it is not March ten it is March tenth. Okay good. Let's look at
the next note. It is incorrect to write this day as March 10th with the th there.
If the month is written here. The th is not written there. Yeah so again it's
it's not optional. You write the month you don't have the th or whatever it is
whether it's the rd or st . Okay let's read the next part. We do use the st, nd, rd or
th if the name of the month is not used. So here we have to give some examples
where we definitely do use it . All right example number one. The rent is due on
the first of the month. Yeah you you actually need it here it's necessary. if
you don't write in here, it gets confusing. it's, the rent is due on the
one of the month. The st lets you know that it's a date. So that's why it is
absolutely necessary here. Okay let's look at example two. We get paid on the
fifteenth of the month. Again this way it lets you know it's a date. If you didn't
have a th it would be we get paid on the fifteen of the month. That doesn't make any sense.
All right and just so you know how we might use some other ordinal numbers
with sd , nd , rd. We also use ordinal numbers to indicate someone's ranking or place.
Let's look at the first example. That Olympian came in third place and won a
bronze medal. Yeah again here if you didn't have the rd here it would be
confusing. That Olympian came in three place that would not make sense.
And the second example. He is only the second person to ever swim across that river. All
right again so just very quickly to review. One of the things to make sure is
that if the name of the month is written do not write the st, nd , rd or th. With
months these dates are always pronounced as ordinal numbers you know March 10
April 3 and when do we use it. We use it when the month is not written there.
Just like you know the rent is due on the 1st of the month
Okay well I hope that clarifies it. I do come across this problem often. Thank you
very much for your time . Bye