abbreviations: days and months

Follow the guidelines below in abbreviating the days of the week and the months of the year.

Days of the week

Abbreviate the names of the days of the week only in tables.

Months of the year

Abbreviate the months of the year only in informal documents or in layouts such as tables, lists and forms, where space is limited.

Although there are various acceptable ways to abbreviate the months, the following three-letter abbreviations have the advantage of being the same length. Note that the month of May is not abbreviated and is therefore not followed by a period. June and July are shortened only in military writing.

• Jan.
• Feb.
• Mar.
• Apr.
• May
• Jun.
• Jul.
• Aug.
• Sep.
• Oct.
• Nov.
• Dec.

Note: Do not abbreviate the month in the date in a business letter:

• March 16, 2009 (not Mar. 16)
• Friday, December 14, 2012 (not Friday, Dec. 14)