Months in English: name, pronunciation and translation. Seasons in English: meanings of words, songs and poems to remember

Before you and I, dear readers, start talking about the names of months in English, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the word “month” is plural is shaped like "months" rather than "months". Remember this please! "Months" (with emphasis on the "e") is a form of the word in genitive case, answering the questions “who?”, “what?”. It's scary to see how many results Google produces when searching for “month of the year,” for example.

Topic for all months English language very entertaining and educational. We will tell you how the calendar appeared, what the 12 months are called in English, we will definitely look at how months are written in English and learn about their abbreviated forms.

History of calendars

The question of what a calendar is does not arise, right? But who invented it, why there are 365 days in a year, what do the Sun and Moon have to do with it, how did they manage to divide the year into months...

Actually, the Romans created their solar calendar based on the Greek lunar calendar. In those days there were 304 days in a year, divided into 10 months. True, then the first month of the year was not January, but March. Where did the rest of the days come from? One of the rulers of Rome, Numa Pompilius, decided to add another 2 months to reduce discrepancies in time and days. But even then the calendar lunar phases of 355 days did not coincide with the solar year. And subsequently, to correct this discrepancy, another month was added every few years - Mercedonia. Can you imagine?!

Julius Caesar brought the calendar to a unified form, not without the help of astronomers. It was he who introduced such a concept as leap year with 366 days.

Of course, after this the calendar was changed and improved more than once, discrepancies in hours and actual dates and moon phases were corrected. And only Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 streamlined the calendar that we use to this day. We call it Gregorian.

Names of the months in English with transcription

Since the names of the months were formed in ancient times, they were based on the names of Roman gods, emperors, great people, just numbers, and holidays. Please immediately note that the names of the months, since these are proper names, are written with capital letter.

In general, the word month - month in English, comes from the word moon - moon, month.

Let's finally look at the list of months in English and find out where they got such names from:

January – January[‘dʒænju(ə)ri]

• The month is named after the two-faced Roman god of entrances and exits, as well as beginnings and ends. Initially, the month had 29 days, and then Caesar decided to add 2 more days. And so it turned out to be the 31st day of January.

February – February[‘febru(ə)ri]

• This month has the same name as the Roman festival of cleansing from sins Februa.

March – March[mɑ:tʃ]

• The “strongest” month is named after the Roman god of war, Mars – Martius, Mars.

April – April[‘eipr(ə)l]

• The month of spring was named after greek goddess love and beauty of Aphrodite – Aphrilis.

May – May[mei]

• The last month of spring is named after Maius, the Greek goddess of fertility.

June – June[dʒu:n]

• Wonderful summer day patronized by the Roman goddess of marriage, and in general the protector of women, Juno - Juno.

July[dʒu'lai]

• Whose name is the name of the month similar to? Of course, Julius Caesar! It was in this month that the great commander and politician was born, who decided to immortalize himself in this way. But previously July was simply called Quintilis, which meant “fifth.”

August – August[ˈɔːɡəst]

• The ancient Roman politician and founder of the Roman Empire, Octavian Augustus, who completed the laborious work of correcting the calendar, also decided to leave a memory in the name of one of the months of the year.

September – September[sep’tembə]

• Previously, the seventh month was called septem. We remember, yes, that the year began in March?!

October – October[ɔk’təubə]

• This is, accordingly, the eighth month - octo. Apparently, the imagination of Roman and Greek figures has ended J

November – November[nəu’vembə]

• The ninth month is novem.

December – December[di'sembə]

• And the tenth, last month in the ancient calendar is decem.

Months in English with prepositions

There are only two prepositions that are used with months in English. This in And on: in January- in January, in February– in February, etc.

But when talking about the past or future, remember that in is issued: this March– this March, next Arpil– next April, last May- in the past Maya.

The difference in these prepositions is that in is tied more to the month itself than to the date. For example: My birthday is in November. – My birthday is in November.

But the preposition on forms an integer with a date, not with a month. For example: I will celebrate my birthday on November 13th. – I will celebrate my birthday on November 13th.

As you can see, everything is extremely simple!

Abbreviation of months in English

Why are abbreviations necessary and what is difficult about them? Nothing difficult, but short forms very much needed. Most of all, probably, for official correspondence.

Just remember that months in English, even when abbreviated, are written with a capital letter. Eat!

Another nuance: names are shortened to just three letters. That is, Apr, Oct, Nov. June and July can be left unchanged and written in full. So you use the British version. And if you shorten the names to Jun and Jul, you get the American version. Although September is always shortened to four letters - Sept.

As for the dots at the end of the abbreviation, there is a division into British and American versions: put a dot - Amer., do not put a dot - Brit.

Now you know not only how October is written in English, but also how March is written in English and other months of the year. We hope to remember the abbreviated names of the months in English, which will be useful for writing business letters.

The names of the seasons and months are common vocabulary, so learning their names is very important for language learners.

Etymology of month names

Etymology- a science that studies the origin of words, reconstructing vocabulary the most ancient period.

• Word month associated with *mænon - Moon, month.
• The names of the months in English originate from the Julian calendar. Initially in ancient roman calendar was 10 months old. The first month of the year was March.

• Julian calendar- a calendar developed by a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sosigenes. The calendar is named after Julius Caesar, by whose decree it was introduced into the Roman Empire from January 1, 45 BC. e. The year according to the Julian calendar begins on January 1, since it was on this day from 153 BC. e. The consuls elected by the comitia took office. In 46 BC. Julius Caesar introduced the counting of the year from January 1 and changed the number of days in some months. Thus, after the introduction of the Julian calendar, the average length of the year became 365.25 days: usually a year lasted 365 days, once every four years - 366 days.
• In the Roman calendar, four months of the year (March, May, July and October) consisted of 31 days, the remaining months had 30 days. That is, there were 304 days in a year. In the 7th century BC, the Romans made a reform and added an eleventh and twelfth month: January, (from Latin Jānuārius) - in honor of the ancient Roman god of doors, roads and beginnings Janus, who was depicted with two faces, and February(from Latin Februārius mēnsis - month of atonement), the name of which comes from the Roman festival of purification from sins februa, which was celebrated on February 15.

• March (March) named after the ancient Roman god of war, Mars.
• April- the name of the month comes from the Latin word aperire, which means to open, possibly because the buds open in April. According to another version, the name of the month comes from the Latin word Aprilis, which comes from Greek word Aphro, which is short for Aphrodite. That is, April is named after ancient greek goddess love and beauty of Aphrodite.
• May– received its name in honor of the Roman goddess of spring and earth, Maya.

• June– the month is named after the goddess Juno, who is the goddess of marriage. To this day, some people believe and choose to get married in June.
• July named after the ancient Roman commander Julius Caesar, who was born this month. Initially, July was called quintilis (from the Latin fifth), since it was the fifth in a row.
• August (August) originally called Sextilis (sixth), and then renamed in honor of the ancient Roman emperor Octavian Augustus.

The names of the following months come from Latin numerals:

• September - from Latin septem (seven).
• October — (October) has the root octo (eight).
• November (november)- novem (nine).
• December- decem (ten), respectively. The suffix -ber in these names is an adjective suffix, therefore literally the months are translated as the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth.

Names of the months in modern English

The names of the months are common vocabulary, which should not cause much difficulty in memorizing due to the partial similarity in the names of the months in English and Russian.

Using prepositions with months

The following prepositions are used with the names of months in English: IN And ON.

• in January- in January (if we are talking only about the name of the month)
• on the first of January- the first of January (if we are talking about a date)
• last January- last January (!! note the absence)
• next January- next January (!! note the lack of preposition in English)
• this February- in February (of this year, about the upcoming February) (!! note the absence of a preposition in English)
• in July last year- last July
• by next month- by next month.

Abbreviated month names

In the abbreviated version of the name of the months, only the first three letters of the name remain:

• January - January - Jan.
• February - February - Feb.
• March - March - Mar.
• April – April – Apr.
• May - May - May - not abbreviated
• June - June - June - not abbreviated
• July - July - July - not abbreviated
• August - August - Aug.
• September - September - Sept., Sep.
• October - October - Oct.
• November - November - Nov.
• December – December – Dec.

The section “Names of the months” in English is one of the simplest. The names of the months are varied and take names from the Julian calendar. This is a mix of the names of gods and rulers Ancient Rome, holidays and more. And if the names of months are formed from names, therefore, months are written with capital letters.

The ancient Roman calendar had a ten-month calendar. In the Roman Republic in 708 from the founding of Great Rome, during the reign of Gaius Julius Caesar, the Julian calendar was adopted.

The Roman year began in March. Of the twelve months, ten were named, and two were unnamed. The winter months of January and February were added to the calendar in 700 BC. Then January became the first month of the year.

When two winter months were added - January and February - the remaining months shifted. And the autumn months and the first winter no longer coincide with their original meaning.

Etymology of the names of the winter months

The section begins in December and the year ends. Before the adoption of the Etruscan calendar, December was the tenth month for the Romans - “decem” in Latin is ten. Therefore, December literally means the tenth. In English the month is called "December".

IN modern world the year begins with the month of January. In English "January". The month was named after the Roman god Janus. Janus is the god of doors and passages - beginnings and ends.

Had two faces looking in opposite directions. Thus, Janus looked at the beginning and end of the year. In other words, Janus is the god of gates.

In ancient times, it was customary in this month to clean houses and put them in order after winter; it was considered the most favorable time for cleaning the house. In English, the month of February is called "February".

Etymology of the names of the spring months

The name of the spring months is associated only with the names of the Roman gods.

March or in English “March” - the first month of spring received its name in honor of the Roman god of war, Mars. The Romans believed that this best month for military operations.

“April” or April in Russian comes from the Latin. verb "aperire" - to announce the coming of spring. But, there is one hypothesis that the month is named after the ancient Greek goddess and patroness of love and happiness - Aphrodite.

The ancient Romans had a goddess of spring and land affairs - Maya. So it was in honor of this goddess that the last month of spring, May, was named. And in English “May”.

Etymology of the names of the summer months

The beginning of summer culminates in June. In English "June". It is named after the Roman goddess Juno, she is considered a symbol of marriage and family. To this day, many peoples believe that the best month for a wedding is June.

Juno herself was a married goddess. Her husband was an important person in the ancient Roman pantheon of gods - Jupiter. God of all gods. Like the ancient Greeks, Zeus.

Second summer month June – English “Jule”. Named in honor of His Majesty the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar. Because in this month Caesar was born.

The month of August or “August” is named after the first Roman ruler, Emperor Augustus.

Etymology of the names of the autumn months

It remains to find out what or who they are named after autumn months. But with their origin everything is much simpler.

We welcome autumn in September or in English “September”. In Latin, "sept" means seven. For the ancient Romans, September was the seventh month, since the year began in March.

The ancient Romans did not think long about the names of October and November. October or "October" from the Latin "octo" - eight.

Therefore, November will be the ninth month of "novem" and in English it will sound like "November".

The names of the English months are very consonant with the Russian ones, so the memorization process should not cause big problems in memorization. Don't forget that the British write the names of the months with a capital letter.

In Russian, a similar rule applies, but there is a small exception.

If the sentence with the name of the month contains the word “Month” itself, which is written with a capital letter, then the name will have to be written with a small letter. For example: M month m ai is named after the Roman goddess Maia.

How to pronounce the names of the months in English?

To be literate, it is enough not only to know grammar and have a large vocabulary, but it is also important to pronounce foreign words correctly.

Name of the month in English	Transcription recorded using English phonetics	Transcription recorded using Russian language	Translation of the month into Russian
January	[‘dʒæ nju(ə)ri]	[January]	January
February	[‘febru(ə)ri]	[fabrewery]	February
March		[mach]	March
April	[‘eipr(ə)l]	[April]	April
May		[May]	May
June		[jun]	June
July		[julay]	July
August	[ɔ:’g Λst]	[August]	August
September		[septembe]	September
October	[ɔk’ təubə]	[oktobe]	October
November		[novembre]	november
December		[disembe]	December

Using prepositions with months

Months, like parts of speech, are used in English with prepositions. There are two prepositions that are combined with the names of the months, these are “IN”, “ON”.

If you want to construct a statement in which we're talking about specifically about the month, and not about the date, then the preposition “IN” should be used.

For example:

If you want to construct an expression that will contain information about a specific date, then you must use the preposition “IN” in constructing the sentence. For example:

Abbreviations for month names in English

In business English, it is customary to abbreviate words, including the names of months.

The principle of abbreviation is as follows: the first three names of the month are written with a capital letter:

January	January	Jan.
February	February	Feb.
March	March	Mar.
April	April	Apr.
May	May	May – not abbreviated
June	June	June – not abbreviated
July	July	July – not abbreviated
August	August	Aug.
September	September	Sept., Sep.
October	October	Oct.
November	November	Nov.
December	December	Dec.

Name of the days of the week in English

The ancient Anglo-Saxons also gave names to the days of the week. They worshiped many gods. They were pagans. It was in honor of these gods that the days of the week got their names.

Let's look at the days of the week and their origins:

• Monday -Monday: It has direct relation for a week in Rome. Literally translated as “Day of the Moon”.
• Tuesday -Tuesday: The ancestors of the British named the second day of the week in honor of the noble, strong and one-armed god Tyr. Many songs have been sung about him in the English epic. Tyr is considered the god of war. It was to him that the warriors worshiped, it was to him that the fighters made sacrifices before battles in the form of hanged men. Warriors depicted the rune of this god on their swords.
• Wednesday - Wednesday: Wednesday got its name in honor of the Great Odin. The ancestors of the British could not neglect the main deity. Odin, like Tyr, was sacrificed before battles by hanging several men. One had incredible strength and a sharp mind. It was this god who brought writing to the Scandinavians in the form of runes.
• Thursday - Thursday: This day is dedicated to Thor, the son of Odin. Thor was considered a patron and protector ordinary people on the ground. He was also the patron of thunder and lightning, storms.
• Friday -Friday: Like the Greeks and Romans, the Scandinavians had their own patroness of love affairs and family - the goddess Frigg. Friday was named after her. Frigg was a married goddess. She was Odin's wife. She had the gift of providence.
• Saturday -Saturday: this day was named after Saturn.
• Sunday -Sunday: Literally translated as “sunny day”, this is how the Scandinavians nicknamed Sunday. Just like the Romans believed that this day was the Day of the Sun.

Remember that it is very easy to learn the names of months and days of the week, especially if you know their origin.

People who come to England or an English-speaking country are often surprised by things that are quite simple for its inhabitants and cannot get used to some of the rules and features. For example, to the traditional English calendar. But what features can a seemingly ordinary thing have? It turns out that they exist. They will be discussed in this article. Enjoy reading!

The calendar in English seems unusual at first glance. The unusual first day of the week is striking - Sunday. But this does not mean that the work week begins on this day. It’s just common among the British to divide the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) into the beginning of the week and the end - this creates the illusion of uniformity.

And also, which happens quite rarely, if a person works on Saturday, then he has one day off at the beginning of the week. On Sunday, it is customary to go with relatives to nature (in the summer and spring months) or to visit relatives (in autumn and winter).

Features of writing days and months

The British are sensitive to the names of their days of the week. This confirms, for example, the following fact: absolutely all days and months, unlike us, are written with a capital letter.

Since the Germanic, Scandinavian and English peoples are closely related, this was reflected in the names of the days of the week and months. They are mainly dedicated to various mythical gods, such as Thor or Odin.

A week in English with transcription looks like this:

1. Sunday [‘sΛndei - “Sa’nday”] - Sunday. Literally translated as “sun’s day.”
2. Monday [‘mΛndei - “Ma’nday”] - Monday. Literally translated as “moon’s day.”
3. Tuesday [‘tju:zdi - “Tuesday”] - Tuesday. Literal translation: “Tiw’s day.” Tiv is a one-armed god in English legends. He was depicted as an old man - a symbol of law and justice, as well as military valor.
4. Wednesday [‘wenzdei - “We’nzdei”] - Wednesday. This day is also dedicated to God, but now to a Germanic one - Wotan. We usually call this god Odin. This is a thin old man whose exploits are so exaggerated that they are difficult to believe. For example, there is a legend that he gave one eye for the sake of knowledge, for which he was honored to be called the fourth day of the week. "Wotan's day" - Odin's day.
5. Thursday [‘θə:zdei - “Fyo’zdey”] - Thursday. This day is dedicated to the famous Scandinavian god - Thor. His father was Odin, the ruler of all gods, and his mother was Frigga. "Thor's day" - Thor's day. Over time, the name of the day of the week changed and became what we are used to seeing it - Thursday.
6. Friday [‘fraidei - “Fra’idei”] - Friday. This is the day of the Scandinavian goddess Frigga. Literally: “Frige’s day.”
7. Saturday [‘sætədei - “Se’teday”] - Saturday. Perhaps the only day dedicated to non-ancient Germanic gods. This is the day of Saturn - the ancient Roman god. "Saturn's day".

The history of the origin of the various English days of the week explains a lot about the obligatory capital letter in the English calendar. After all, almost all these days belong to various gods, and the ancestors of the English revered and respected them. And a capital letter is one of the signs of respect. Even with abbreviations (we will discuss them later), the names of the days are written with a capital letter.

Names of the months in English

The various months in English are also always written with a capital letter, since these are words derived from proper names (mostly belonging to the gods). They are borrowed mainly from Latin language. Also English months begin in March - the first month of spring. It is believed that it is during this month that Mother Nature renews herself. A winter months on the contrary - aging and fading of the year.

There are no other serious features in the months of the English calendar, except perhaps in their pronunciation.

Months in English with transcription

1. March [ me:tf - “Me’tz (last sound: something between “z” and “s”)” ] - March. In honor of "Marcelius" (Mars) - the famous god of war.
2. April [‘eipr(ə)l - “April”] - April is named after the Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite (Aphrelis).
3. May [mei - “May”] - May. This name of the month is derived from the name of the god Maya, the goddess of fertility.
4. June [dju:n - “June”] - June. The month is named after the goddess Juna, but in Russian her name sounds like “Hera”. She acted as the patroness of all widows and marriages.
5. July [dju’lai - “Ju’lay”] - July. At the height of summer, the great Holy Roman Emperor was born. The month is named after Julius Caesar, born in 46 BC. e.
6. August [a:’gΛst - “Augest”] - August. This month is named after Augustus Octavian, thanks to whose efforts the formation of the Gregorian calendar was completed.
7. September [sep’tembə - “Septe’mbe”] - September. From lat. the words “septem” are seven.
8. October [ok’təubə - “O’ktoube”] - October. From lat. the words "octo" are eight.
9. November [nəu’vembə - “Nou’vembe”] - November. From lat. the words “novem” are nine.
10. December [di’sembə - “Di’sembe”] - December. From lat. the words “decem” are ten.
11. January [‘djænju(ə)ri - “Je’neweri”] - January. In honor of Janus - the Roman god of gates and the patron of people from uninvited guests.
12. February [‘febru(ə)ri - “Fe’brueri” ] - February. This month received its name in honor of the holiday “Februa”, which is translated from Latin as “purification”.

Year in English

Eat small features pronunciation of the four-digit year in English. So, for example, they say the first two numbers first, and then the remaining ones (separately). For example, the year 1758 sounds like seventeen and fifty eight.

Abbreviations for the names of days of weeks and months

In English calendars, names are rarely written in full (especially in online analogues), since they are too cumbersome for the tabular type of calendars (this is their main type, the most common). There are two types of name abbreviations: two-character and three-character. The latter imply a period after the abbreviation; two-character ones do not require it.

Two-character abbreviations for the names of days of the week and months

With this type of abbreviation, the first two letters of the name are used. This is very convenient in the sense that just by starting to read a word, you can immediately remember its complete analogue.

Days of the week in English abbreviated:

Months in English abbreviated:

Name of the month	Abbreviation
March	Ma
April	Ap
May	May*
June	June*
July	Jul*
August	Au
September	Se
October	Oc
November	No
December	De
January	Ja
February	Fe

*Some months are very similar and cannot be reduced to two characters. Either three characters or the full name of the month can be used (for example, June).

Three-character abbreviations for the names of days of the week and months

This type of abbreviation is common not only in calendars, but in various diaries with dates or in official documents (due to one possible interpretation of the abbreviation).

The symbols used in common ones do not necessarily have to be in order. full word, but this is the most commonly used option. A dot is placed after the name of the month or week on the calendar.

Table of three-character abbreviations:

Name of the month	Abbreviation
March	Mar.
April	Apr.
May	May.
June	Jun.
July	Jul.
August	Aug.
September	Sep.
October	Oct.
November	Nov.
December	Dec.
January	Jan.
February	Feb.

There are also four-character abbreviations, but they are not so common and are similar in composition to the above.

Conclusion

Among the British, to us, residents of Russia and the CIS countries, much seems unusual and strange in their culture and. But, if you look at it, everything is extremely clear and simple for them. For example, the rule of writing the names of the days of the weeks and months seems a little strange until you realize that these are derived words from the names of Greek and Roman gods.

If you understand the features and delve into them, it will become much easier and more interesting.

January – January, named after the god Janus. According to legend, he had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking back, so he could see the beginning and end of the year. He was the god of gates.

February – February. The name comes from a Latin word that means purification. In ancient times, houses looked very dirty after winter and the time occupied by this month was considered favorable for cleaning the house.

March – March, named after the planet Mars and the god of war. The Romans believed that this period was convenient for wars.

April - April. Derived from the Latin word aperire - to open (beginning of spring). There is a second version that the name was received in honor of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.

May - May, received its name in honor of the Roman goddess Maya. She was the goddess of spring and earth.

June - June, invented in honor of the goddess Juno, who is a symbol of marriage. To this day, some people believe and prefer to get married in June. Juno's husband was the equally important god Jupiter - the king of the gods, respectively, Juno was the queen.

July – July, named after the great Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. This month was the ruler's birthday.

August - August, took this name as an inheritance from the first Roman emperor Augustus.

September – September, sept, which means seven in Latin. During the Roman Empire, the calendar began with the month of March, therefore September was the seventh month of the year.

October, November, December (October, November, December). The Romans simply called these months octo, novem, decem - eight, nine, ten.