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All the seasons of the year

List of Month Abbreviations: Master the Calendar in No Time

All the seasons of the year

Whether you’re a busy professional, a student, or simply someone who likes to stay organized, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the months of the year and the abbreviations used to represent them. This knowledge can help you plan your schedule, set reminders, and communicate effectively with others.

A comprehensive list of month names and abbreviations can serve as a handy reference guide, allowing you to quickly and easily check the spelling of a month, or confirm its abbreviation. It can also help you to avoid common mistakes, such as writing “Janurary” instead of “January.”

In this article, we’ll provide you with a detailed list of all twelve months of the year, along with the appropriate abbreviations to use when writing them.

What Are the Months of the Year

Just in case you need a bit of a refresher, here’s the months of the year in chronological order:

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Comma Separated List of Months in Order

In case you need to copy and paste them, here are the months of the year separated by commas:

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

January,February,March,April,May,June,July,August,September,October,November,December

How Many Days Are in Each Month

January – 31 days
February – 28 days (or 29 days during leap years, which occur every 4 years except for years evenly divisible by 100, but not by 400)
March – 31 days
April – 30 days
May – 31 days
June – 30 days
July – 31 days
August – 31 days
September – 30 days
October – 31 days
November – 30 days
December – 31 days

How Do You Abbreviate Months of the Year

When writing the months of the year, it’s common to use their abbreviations. Unfortunately, people often confuse how to write the abbreviated months depending on their culture, the business environment, and other random factors (like simply forgetting!). So, here’s a simple chart showing the 2-letter and 3-letter abbreviations for all twelve months of the year.

Month 3 Letter Abbreviation 2 Letter Abbreviation
January Jan Ja
February Feb Fe
March Mar Ma
April Apr Ap
May May Ma
June Jun Ju
July Jul Ju
August Aug Au
September Sep Se
October Oct Oc
November Nov No
December Dec De

Note that not all months have a 2-letter abbreviation!

A common way to abbreviate the months of the year is to use the first three letters of each one. This is easy to remember and apply. However, there are a couple exceptions to this rule. May is only three letters long and thus does not need to be abbreviated. September can be shortened to Sep, but it is also sometimes written as Sept. which has four letters. Despite these exceptions, the rule to use the first three letters works well for most months and is worth remembering.

When to Use the Abbreviations

Abbreviations are typically used when it’s important to save space or reduce repetition. In this context, the above month abbreviations are mainly used in newspaper headlines, blogs, articles, reports, and presentations. Essentially, any place where saving space is important!

Additionally, the abbreviation of months is also common in calendars and devices that display the date, like clocks and phones.

It’s worth noting that some style guides have specific rules for abbreviating months.

The MLA and APA have different rules:

  • MLA: All months are abbreviated as mentioned before, except for May, June, and July, which are written in full. Abbreviations begin with a capital letter and end with a period.
  • APA: All months are spelled out in full and should be avoided abbreviating whenever possible.

It’s important to check and abide by the appropriate style guide depending on the context of your writing.

How Do You Abbreviate the Word Month?

The common short form of the word “month” is typically “mo.” However, as “month” is not a particularly long word, it’s not frequently abbreviated. “MTH” is mostly used in small displays, such as in clocks and calendars. Other less common abbreviations for “month” include:

  • mth (mths if plural)
  • mo/mos (MLA style)
  • m’th
  • m-th
  • mo. (mos. if plural)

What’s the Definition of Month?

A month is a unit of time, used to measure the duration of a complete revolution of the Moon around the Earth. There are approximately 12 months in a year, with the exact number varying depending on the calendar system in use. In the Gregorian calendar, which is widely used around the world, a month is typically defined as a period of 28 to 31 days. E

ach month is named, with the first month of the year being January, the second month being February, and so on, ending with December as the twelfth month.

What Are the Months in French?

Here’s a list of the months in French:

English Month French Month
January Janvier
February Février
March Mars
April Avril
May Mai
June Juin
July Juillet
August Août
September Septembre
October Octobre
November Novembre
December Décembre

What Are the Months in German?

Here’s a list of the months in German:

English Month German Month
January Januar
February Februar
March März
April April
May Mai
June Juni
July Juli
August August
September September
October Oktober
November November
December Dezember

 

What Are the Months in Spanish?

Here’s a list of the months in Spanish:

English Month Spanish Month
January Enero
February Febrero
March Marzo
April Abril
May Mayo
June Junio
July Julio
August Agosto
September Septiembre
October Octubre
November Noviembre
December Diciembre

What Are the Months in Chinese?

Here’s a list of the months in Chinese:

English Month Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Pinyin)
January 一月 yī yuè
February 二月 èr yuè
March 三月 sān yuè
April 四月 sì yuè
May 五月 wǔ yuè
June 六月 liù yuè
July 七月 qī yuè
August 八月 bā yuè
September 九月 jiǔ yuè
October 十月 shí yuè
November 十一月 shí yī yuè
December 十二月 shí èr yuè

What Are the Months in Italian?

Here’s a list of the months in Italian:

English Month Italian Month
January Gennaio
February Febbraio
March Marzo
April Aprile
May Maggio
June Giugno
July Luglio
August Agosto
September Settembre
October Ottobre
November Novembre
December Dicembre

What Are the Months in Arabic?

Note that Arabic month names are based on the Islamic calendar, and the order of the months and the length of the months may vary depending on the country or culture and their usage of it.

Here’s a list of the months in Arabic:

English Month Arabic Month
January كانون الثاني (kānūn ath-thānī)
February شباط (shubāṭ)
March آذار (ādhār)
April نيسان (nayyān)
May أيار (ayyār)
June حزيران (ḥizyarān)
July تموز (tammūz)
August آب (āb)
September أيلول (ayyūl)
October تشرين الأول (tashrīn al-awwal)
November تشرين الثاني (tashrīn ath-thānī)
December كانون الأول (kānūn al-awwal)

What Are the Months in Hindi?

Here’s a list of the months names in Hindi (Hindu Calendar) and months in Devanagari:

English Month Hindi (Hindu Calendar) Devanagari
January जनवरी (January) जनवरी
February फ़रवरी (February) फ़रवरी
March मार्च (March) मार्च
April अप्रैल (April) अप्रैल
May मई (May) मई
June जून (June) जून
July जुलाई (July) जुलाई
August अगस्त (August) अगस्त
September सितंबर (September) सितंबर
October अक्टूबर (October) अक्टूबर
November नवंबर (November) नवंबर
December दिसंबर (December) दिसंबर

Note that the Devanagari script and Hindi language are written in left to right script and the Hindi language is widely spoken in India and Nepal, and Hindi and Devanagari script is also used for various other Indian Languages too

What Are the Solar Months in Astrology

In astrology, the solar months correspond to the twelve signs of the zodiac, which are based on the position of the sun relative to the earth. Each solar month is associated with one of the signs, and the dates during which the sun is in that sign are called the “dates of the solar month.”

In case you fancy studying something a bit more cosmic, here are all the solar months in astrology:

Solar Month Zodiac Sign Dates
Aries Aries March 21 – April 19
Taurus Taurus April 20 – May 20
Gemini Gemini May 21 – June 20
Cancer Cancer June 21 – July 22
Leo Leo July 23 – August 22
Virgo Virgo August 23 – September 22
Libra Libra September 23 – October 22
Scorpio Scorpio October 23 – November 21
Sagittarius Sagittarius November 22 – December 21
Capricorn Capricorn December 22 – January 19
Aquarius Aquarius January 20 – February 18
Pisces Pisces February 19 – March 20

If you enjoyed this piece, you might want to learn about what year it is and the stories behind all the different calendars in the world. Or maybe you want to know what year every generation was born in? Either way, thanks for reading!

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