20th Twentieth

1st First Monday

2ndstSecond
21 Twenty-first January
rdnd
22
3 Third Tuesday
Twenty-second
DO YOU THAT…? REMEMBER THAT:
February DO YOU THAT…?
23 Wednesday Firstly, the Greeks named the days week after the
4thrdFourth
Twenty-third March
5ththFifth
24 Thursday
Twenty-fourth sun, the moon and the five known planets, which
April January: named after Janus, the god of doors
6ththSixth
25 Twenty-fifth
Friday were in turn named after the gods Ares, Hermes, and gates
thth
26 Twenty-sixth
6 Seventh Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronus. Secondly, the May February: named after Februalia, a time
thth
27 Saturday
Twenty-
8 Eighth
Romans substituted their equivalent gods for the
Greek gods, Mars, Mercury, Jove (Jupiter), Venus, June
period when sacrifices were made for
committing sins
seventh
9th Ninth Sunday and Saturn. But the Germanic peoples changed
July
March: named after Mars, the god of war
April: for growing flowers (to open buds)
10thth Twenty-
28 Tenth eighth them for their gods, Tiu (Twia), Woden, Thor, Freya
May: named after Maia, the goddess of
11thth Twenty-ninth
29 Eleventh
(Fria), but did not substitute Saturn. So the days of August growth of plants
the week in English refer to:
30 th
12 Thirtieth
th
Twelfth September June: from junius, Latin for the goddess Juno
July: named after Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.
Thirty-first,
th
13 Thirteenth etc ´
October August: named after Augustus Caesar in 8
Monday: Moon’s day
14thth Fortieth
40 Fourteenth B.C.
Tuesday: Tiu´s day (Tue was the god of war)
15thth Fiftieth
50 Fifteenth
Wednesday: Wode´s day (the leader of the Anglo-Saxons)
November September: from septem, Latin for “seven”
October: from octo, Latin for “eight”
60 th
16 Sixtieth
th Thursday: Thorn’s day (Thorn was the god of thunders)
Sixteenth December November: from novem, Latin for “nine”
Friday: Freya’s day (Freya was the goddess of love, beauty and December: from decem, Latin for “ten”
17thth Seventieth
70 Seventeenth
fecundity)
18thth Eightieth
80 Eighteenth
Saturday: Saturn’s day (God of agriculture)
th Sunday: Sun’s day
90
19 Ninetieth
th
Nineteenth
100th Hundredth
1000th Thousandth REMEMBER THAT:
1,000.000 Millionth 1. Days and months are always We say a year in two parts except in
written with capital letters in numbers ending in 00 when we add the word hundred.
1. The spelling of the bold numbers: fifth, English Example:
eighth, ninth, twentieth, etc. 2. Dates are expressed by 1985 nineteen eighty-five
2. With figures we use the last two letters of ordinal numbers, so when 1900 nineteen hundred
the written word speaking we say: 2000 two hundred
3. When you want to talk about kings or March the tenth, etc. When we 2005 two hundred AND five
write them, we can do it in
emperors: different ways:
a) you need to add the article the a) March 10 b) 10 March c) March 10th d) 10th March
“between his/her name and the e) March the 10th f) 10th of March
number (only in spoken English)
Example: Henry the Eighth
b) titles of kings are always written
in Roman figures
Example: Henry VIII
 WHEN?

IN ON AT
My birthday is in June My birthday is on Monday The party is at six

1. Years/ 1. Days of the week/date 1. Clock time

months/seasons On Wednesday At three o’clock
Centuries On 23rd April At seven
In 1973 On that day At that time
In August On my birthday At the moment
In spring
In 18th century 2. A particular day 2. Two or three days
On Christmas day At Easter/ At
2. Festivities On good Friday Christmas
In Christmas At the weekend
3. Day + part of day
3. Parts of the day On Saturday night *3. At Night
In the morning On Monday morning
I woke up in the night (in the
In the afternoon middle of the night; I work at
In the evening night (when it is night)

 More about IN:

- We use IN when we want to express the time we take to complete
something.
Example: I did the housework in an hour and a half

- We use IN for a future time measured from the present

Example: A. How long is going to take you the homework?
B. I will finish IN fifteen minutes, don’t worry

 What’s the difference between …?

In time “early enough” On time “at the right

time”
- I arrived to the airport in time so I had a coffee
- I arrived to the airport on time so I couldn’t have a coffee

At the beginning/end “literally” In the beginning/end “ in the

early stages”

“finally, eventually”

- At the beginning of the film my name appears, did you see it?
- At the end of the book the crime is solved by the journalist
- In the beginning people didn’t have fire to cook but some time
f. EXERCISES: Dates
1. Answer or complete the following sentences

a. What is the third month of the year?

b. What is the first day of the week?
c. What’s the tenth month of the year?
d. What is the second season after summer?
e. August is the ……….. ….month of the year
f. Thursday is the ……………. day of the week
g. You are the …………….. son or daughter
h. Your father is the ……………... of his brothers and sisters
i. After the twentieth is the ……………….
j. What was the first book you read?
k. When was the first time you went out with your friends? (a year or how old were you)
…………………………
l. Who is the second of your family?
m. What was the first film you watch in the cinema?
n. When was the last time you read a novel? (year, week, month)
o. What is the fifth month of the year?
p. What is the year after 2010?

2. Write the following dates in words and using an ordinal

number (both forms) as in the example: 22/5/1986  22nd May
1986// the twentieth-second of May of nineteen eighty-six

A. 08/02/ 1997 
B. 21/07/1715 
C. 30/09/2009 
D. 05/11/1945 
E. 12/04/ 1815 
F. 13/12/2010 

3. Write in words the following titles of these important kings of England

a. Elisabeth II
b. Charles V
c. Jacob I
d. Henry VII
e. Richard III
f. Edward IV
Thursday is the …………… day of the week
1. Fill in with: in, on, at

EXERCISES: Prepositions of time

1. Fill in with: in, on, at

1. …….. Monday 6. ……. Friday 11. ……. Christmas

2. ……. midday evening 12. …… noon
3. ……. half past seven 7. ……..night 13. …… summer of 92
4. ……. July 31st 8. ……. 8.20 14. ……. September
5. ……. my birthday 9. ........January 15th
10. …… 1991 15. …….. the morning

2. Fill in with: in, on, at

1. I hate going on holidays ……… August because there are a lot of

people in the beach
2. I’m usually free ……….. Thursdays so we can meet and have a
coffee
3. My sister’s birthday is …….. 12th February but they party will be
………. Friday night. Will you be able to come?
4. Yes, of course. I will be there ……… 8 o’clock to help you, is that
ok?
5. I usually go shopping ………. the morning
6. Spain has a lovely weather ……….. summer
7. Owls and vampire come out …….. night.
8. Come on! The film starts ……… 6.30 we’re late!
9. When are you coming? I´m coming ………. Saturday
10. I have an appointment with the doctor …….. 5th April.

3. Correct the mistakes, if any, in these sentences

1- The school starts in Monday 26th and finishes in June ________

2- I never buy newspapers in the weekend ________
3- We give presents on Christmas night, and you? ________
4- She starts working at 8 and finishes at 4 ________
5- The pharmacy is closed at Sundays I think ________
6- The meeting was at 5 but I arrive in time ________
7- In the beginning Martha didn´t want to come but at
the end she decided to come