---
name: "Date::Manip::Lang::english"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "perl-date-manip"
version: "7.00-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Date::Manip::Lang::english"
---

# Date::Manip::Lang::english(3pm)

English language support.

## NAME

Date::Manip::Lang::english - English language support.

## SYNOPSIS

This module contains a list of words and expressions supporting the language. It is not intended to be used directly (other Date::Manip modules will load it as needed).

## LANGUAGE EXPRESSIONS

The following is a list of all language words and expressions used to write times and/or dates.

All strings are case insensitive.

- **Month names and abbreviations**

  When writing out the name of the month, several different variations may exist including full names and abbreviations.

  The following month names may be used:

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

  The following abbreviations may be used:

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

- **Day names and abbreviations**

  When writing out the name of the day, several different variations may exist including full names and abbreviations.

  The following day names may be used:

  ```
     Monday
     Tuesday
     Wednesday
     Thursday
     Friday
     Saturday
     Sunday
  ```

  The following abbreviations may be used:

  ```
     Mon
     Mon.
     Tue
     Tues
     Tue.
     Tues.
     Wed
     Wed.
     Thu
     Thur
     Thu.
     Thur.
     Fri
     Fri.
     Sat
     Sat.
     Sun
     Sun.
  ```

  The following short (1-2 characters) abbreviations may be used:

  ```
     M
     T
     W
     Th
     F
     Sa
     S
  ```

- **Delta field names**

  These are the names (and abbreviations) for the fields in a delta.  There are 7 fields: years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds.

  The names and abbreviations for these fields are:

  ```
     years
     y
     yr
     year
     yrs
     months
     m
     mon
     month
     mons
     weeks
     w
     wk
     wks
     week
     days
     d
     day
     hours
     h
     hr
     hrs
     hour
     minutes
     mn
     min
     minute
     mins
     seconds
     s
     sec
     second
     secs
  ```

- **Morning/afternoon times**

  This is a list of expressions use to designate morning or afternoon time when a time is entered as a 12-hour time rather than a 24-hour time. For example, in English, the time "17:00" could be specified as "5:00 PM".

  Morning and afternoon time may be designated by the following sets of words:

  ```
     AM
     A.M.
     PM
     P.M.
  ```

- **Each or every**

  There are a list of words that specify every occurrence of something.  These are used in the following phrases:

  ```
     EACH Monday
     EVERY Monday
     EVERY month
  ```

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     each
     every
  ```

- **Next/Previous/Last occurrence**

  There are a list of words that may be used to specify the next, previous, or last occurrence of something.  These words could be used in the following phrases:

  ```
     NEXT week
     LAST Tuesday
     PREVIOUS Tuesday
     LAST day of the month
  ```

  The following words may be used:

  Next occurrence:

  ```
     next
     following
  ```

  Previous occurrence:

  ```
     previous
     last
  ```

  Last occurrence:

  ```
     last
     final
  ```

- **Delta words for going forward/backward in time**

  When parsing deltas, there are words that may be used to specify the the delta will refer to a time in the future or to a time in the past (relative to some date).  In English, for example, you might say:

  ```
     IN 5 days
     5 days AGO
  ```

  The following words may be used to specify deltas that refer to dates in the past or future respectively:

  ```
     ago
     past
     in the past
     earlier
     before now
     hence
     in
     later
     future
     in the future
     from now
  ```

- **Business mode**

  This contains two lists of words which can be used to specify a standard (i.e. non-business) delta or a business delta.

  Previously, it was used to tell whether the delta was approximate or exact, but now this list is not used except to force the delta to be standard.

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     exactly
     approximately
  ```

  The following words may be used to specify a business delta:

  ```
     business
  ```

- **Numbers**

  Numbers may be spelled out in a variety of ways.  The following sets correspond to the numbers from 1 to 53:

  ```
     1st
     first
     one
     2nd
     second
     two
     3rd
     third
     three
     4th
     fourth
     four
     5th
     fifth
     five
     6th
     sixth
     six
     7th
     seventh
     seven
     8th
     eighth
     eight
     9th
     ninth
     nine
     10th
     tenth
     ten
     11th
     eleventh
     eleven
     12th
     twelfth
     twelve
     13th
     thirteenth
     thirteen
     14th
     fourteenth
     fourteen
     15th
     fifteenth
     fifteen
     16th
     sixteenth
     sixteen
     17th
     seventeenth
     seventeen
     18th
     eighteenth
     eighteen
     19th
     nineteenth
     nineteen
     20th
     twentieth
     twenty
     21st
     twenty-first
     twenty-one
     22nd
     twenty-second
     twenty-two
     23rd
     twenty-third
     twenty-three
     24th
     twenty-fourth
     twenty-four
     25th
     twenty-fifth
     twenty-five
     26th
     twenty-sixth
     twenty-six
     27th
     twenty-seventh
     twenty-seven
     28th
     twenty-eighth
     twenty-eight
     29th
     twenty-ninth
     twenty-nine
     30th
     thirtieth
     thirty
     31st
     thirty-first
     thirty-one
     32nd
     thirty-two
     thirty-second
     33rd
     thirty-three
     thirty-third
     34th
     thirty-four
     thirty-fourth
     35th
     thirty-five
     thirty-fifth
     36th
     thirty-six
     thirty-sixth
     37th
     thirty-seven
     thirty-seventh
     38th
     thirty-eight
     thirty-eighth
     39th
     thirty-nine
     thirty-ninth
     40th
     forty
     fortieth
     41st
     forty-one
     forty-first
     42nd
     forty-two
     forty-second
     43rd
     forty-three
     forty-third
     44th
     forty-four
     forty-fourth
     45th
     forty-five
     forty-fifth
     46th
     forty-six
     forty-sixth
     47th
     forty-seven
     forty-seventh
     48th
     forty-eight
     forty-eighth
     49th
     forty-nine
     forty-ninth
     50th
     fifty
     fiftieth
     51st
     fifty-one
     fifty-first
     52nd
     fifty-two
     fifty-second
     53rd
     fifty-three
     fifty-third
  ```

- **Ignored words**

  In writing out dates in common forms, there are a number of words that are typically not important.

  There is frequently a word that appears in a phrase to designate that a time is going to be specified next.  In English, you would use the word AT in the example:

  ```
     December 3 at 12:00
  ```

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     at
  ```

  Another word is used to designate one member of a set.  In English, you would use the words IN or OF:

  ```
     1st day OF December
     1st day IN December
  ```

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     of
     in
  ```

  Another word is use to specify that something is on a certain date.  In English, you would use ON:

  ```
     ON July 5th
  ```

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     on
  ```

- **Words that set the date, time, or both**

  There are some words that can be used to specify a date, a time, or both relative to now.

  Words that set the date are similar to the English words 'yesterday' or 'tomorrow'.  These are specified as a delta which is added to the current time to get a date.  The time is NOT set however, so the delta is only partially used (it should only include year, month, week, and day fields).

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     ereyesterday         -0:0:0:2:0:0:0
     overmorrow           +0:0:0:2:0:0:0
     today                0:0:0:0:0:0:0
     tomorrow             +0:0:0:1:0:0:0
     yesterday            -0:0:0:1:0:0:0
  ```

  Words that set only the time of day are similar to the English words 'noon' or 'midnight'.

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     midnight             00:00:00
     noon                 12:00:00
  ```

  Words that set the entire time and date (relative to the current time and date) are also available.

  In English, the word 'now' is one of these.

  The following words may be used:

  ```
     now                  0:0:0:0:0:0:0
  ```

- **Hour/Minute/Second separators**

  When specifying the time of day, the most common separator is a colon (:) which can be used for both separators.

  Some languages use different pairs.  For example, French allows you to specify the time as 13h30:20, so it would use the following pairs:

  ```
     : :
     h :
  ```

  The first column is the hour-minute separator and the second column is the minute-second separator.  Both are perl regular expressions.  When creating a new translation, be aware that regular expressions with utf-8 characters may be tricky.  For example, don't include the expression '\[x\]' where 'x' is a utf-8 character.

  A pair of colons is ALWAYS allowed for all languages.  If a language allows additional pairs, they are listed here:

  ```
     Not defined in this language
  ```

- **Fractional second separator**

  When specifying fractional seconds, the most common way is to use a decimal point (.).  Some languages may specify a different separator that might be used.  If this is done, it is a regular expression.

  The decimal point is ALWAYS allowed for all languages.  If a language allows another separator, it is listed here:

  ```
     Not defined in this language
  ```

## KNOWN BUGS

None known.

## BUGS AND QUESTIONS

Please refer to the Date::Manip::Problems documentation for information on submitting bug reports or questions to the author.

## SEE ALSO

Date::Manip       - main module documentation

## LICENSE

This script is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

## AUTHOR

Sullivan Beck (sbeck@cpan.org)
