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!
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