View source for Manual of style/Time and date

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== Precise language ==
Avoid statements that will age quickly, except on pages concerning current events which are frequently brought up to date. Avoid {{!xt|recently}}, {{!xt|soon}}, and {{!xt|now}} (unless their meaning is fixed by the context). Avoid relative terms like {{!xt|currently}} (usually redundant), {{!xt|in modern times}}, {{!xt|is now considered}}, and {{!xt|is soon to be superseded}}. Instead, use either:
* more precise and absolute expressions ({{xt|since the start of 2005}}; {{xt|during the 1990s}}; {{xt|is expected to be superseded by 2008}}); or
* an {{xt|as of}} phrase ({{xt|as of August 2007}}), which signals the time-dependence of the statement, and alerts later editors to update the statement (see [[Wikipedia:As of|As of]]); or simply use {{xt|at}} instead: {{xt|The population was over 21,000,000 (at December 2008)}}.

== Times ==
Context determines whether the 12-hour clock or 24-hour clock is used; in both, colons separate hours, minutes, and seconds ({{xt|1:38:09 pm}} and {{xt|13:38:09}}).
* '''12-hour clock times''' should end with dotted lower-case {{xt|a.m.}} or {{xt|p.m.}}, which are spaced ({{xt|2:30&nbsp;p.m.}}, not {{!xt|2:30p.m.}}). A hard space is advisable: <code>2:30&amp;nbsp;pm</code>.  Use {{xt|noon}} and {{xt|midnight}} rather than {{!xt|12&nbsp;p.m.}} and {{!xt|12&nbsp;a.m.}}; whether {{xt|midnight}} refers to the start or the end of a date will need to be specified unless this is clear from the context.
* '''24-hour clock times''' have no a.m., p.m., noon, or midnight suffix. Use discretion as to whether the hour has a leading zero ({{xt|08:15}} or {{xt|8:15}}). {{xt|00:00}} refers to midnight at the start of a date, {{xt|12:00}} to noon, and {{xt|24:00}} to midnight at the end of a date.

== Dates ==
* Retro does not add ordinal suffixes (such as {{!xt|-nd}}) or ''the'', or put a comma between month and year.
::{|style="background:transparent"
|-valign=top
|''Incorrect'':&nbsp; &nbsp;||{{!xt|February 14th, 14th February, the 14th of February}}
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||{{xt|14 February, February 14}}
|-valign=top
|''Incorrect'':             ||{{!xt|October, 1976; October of 1976}}
|-valign=top
|''Correct'':               ||{{xt|October 1976}}
|}
* As a quick and dirty rule, use month before day in breakout boxes or for general use in an article; move to day before month when discussing dates relative to a country using such syntax.
* Dates are not linked.
* Date ranges are preferably given with minimal repetition, using an unspaced en dash where the range involves numerals alone ({{xt|5–7 January 1979}}; {{xt|January 5–7, 2002}}) or a spaced en dash where both the opening and the closing date have internal spaces ({{xt|5 January&nbsp;– 18 February 1979}}; {{xt|January 5&nbsp;– February 18, 1979}}).
* Rarely, a night may be expressed in terms of the two contiguous dates using a slash ({{xt|the bombing raids of the night of 30/31 May 1942}}).
* Yearless dates ({{xt|5 March}}, {{xt|March 5}}) are inappropriate unless the year is obvious from the context. There is no such ambiguity with recurring dates, such as {{xt|January 1 is New Year's Day}}.
*  Dates in the format YYYY-MM-DD (like {{xt|1976-05-13}}) are uncommon in English prose and are generally not used in article prose. However, they may be useful in long lists, references, and tables for conciseness and ease of comparison.

== Longer periods ==
* Write '''months''' as whole words ({{xt|February}}, not {{!xt|2}}), except in the YYYY-MM-DD  format (as in {{xt|2000-04-01}}). Use abbreviations such as {{xt|Feb.}} only where space is extremely limited, such as in tables and breakout boxes. Do not insert ''of'' between a month and a year ({{xt|April 2000}}, not {{!xt|April of 2000}}).
* '''Seasons as dates'''. As the seasons are reversed in the northern and southern hemispheres&mdash;and areas near the equator tend to have just wet and dry seasons&mdash;neutral wording ({{xt|in early 1990}}, {{xt|in the second quarter of 2003}}, {{xt|around September}}) is usually preferable to a "seasonal" reference ({{!xt|summer 1918}}, {{!xt|spring 1995}}). Even when the season reference is unambiguous (for instance when a particular location is clearly involved) a date or month may be preferable to a season name, unless there is a logical connection ({{xt|the autumn harvest}}). Season names are preferable, however, when they refer to a phase of the natural yearly cycle ({{xt|migration to higher latitudes typically starts in mid-spring}}).
* Season names are not normally capitalized.
* '''Years'''
** Years are normally expressed in digits; a comma is not used in four-digit years ({{xt|1988}}, not {{!xt|1,988}}).
** A slash may be used to indicate regular defined yearly periods that do not coincide with calendar years ({{xt|the financial year 1993/94}}).
* '''Decades''' contain no apostrophe ({{xt|the 1980s}}, not {{!xt|the 1980's}}); the two-digit form is used only where the century is clear ({{xt|the '80s}} or {{xt|the 80s}}).

[[Category:Retro Manual of Style]]