Dates in the Gregorian and Hebrew Calendars | Hebrew Grammar

Israel runs two calendars side by side. A school letter, invitation, newspaper, or official notice may print 22 באפריל 2026 · ה׳ באייר תשפ״ו on one line. For Gregorian dates, the recommended spoken day is a masculine cardinal, not an ordinal. Written Hebrew-calendar dates add a live choice between that cardinal value and the names of the numeral letters.

Gregorian dates: count the day

The recommended standard form is חמישה באוגוסט, literally “five in August.” It has three features English speakers tend to miss:

חמישה is cardinal, not the ordinal חמישי.
It is masculine, traditionally explained by an omitted masculine יום: בחמישה לחודש, “on day five of the month.”
The spelled-out day has no definite article: חמישה, not החמישה.

הכנס ייפתח בחמישה באוגוסט ויימשך יומיים.

hakénes yipatákh bakhamishá be'ogúst veyimashékh yomáyim

The conference will open on 5 August and last two days. (recommended standard)

קבענו את התור לתשעה בינואר, נכון?

kavánu et hatór letish'á beyánu'ar, nakhón?

We booked the appointment for 9 January, right?

The Academy is explicit that the ordinal pattern ראשון באפריל is not its recommended way to state a date, and it likewise rejects an article on the spelled-out numeral as the native standard. Actual Israeli writing is less tidy: ה־5 באוגוסט is widespread, especially with digits in journalism and notices. Keep the contrast as two live register choices:

✅ הפגישה נקבעה לחמישה במאי.

hapgishá nikbe'á lakhamishá bemái

The meeting was set for 5 May. (recommended standard; cardinal with no article)

✅ ה־5 במאי הוא המועד האחרון להגשת הבקשה.

hakhamishá bemái hu hamo'éd ha'akharón lehagashát habakashá

5 May is the deadline for submitting the application. (widespread journalistic/digital writing)

💡

Do not turn a prescriptive preference into a false claim about what Israelis write. חמישה במאי is the recommended spoken and written form; digit-based ה־5 במאי is widespread modern written usage. Recognise both, and use the first in careful prose.

The awkward second day

The free-standing masculine cardinal two is שניים, so careful cardinal date reading gives שניים בינואר. Everyday שני בינואר, which sounds like the ordinal “second,” is also common enough to recognise. The transparent standard–usage contrast is therefore:

✅ החוזה נכנס לתוקף בשניים בינואר.

hakhóze nikhnás letókef bishnáyim beyánu'ar

The contract takes effect on 2 January. (careful cardinal reading)

✅ נדבר שוב בשני בינואר, אחרי החג.

nedabér shuv bashení beyánu'ar, akharéi hekhág

We'll talk again on 2 January, after the holiday. (common everyday ordinal-like reading)

Because both occur, this is not a place for a red cross. Use שניים in careful date reading; expect שני in conversation.

Writing Gregorian dates

With a month name, write 5 באוגוסט. In an all-digit date, Israeli order is day.month.year: 5.8.2026 means 5 August 2026, not May 8 as it would in common American order. Slashes also occur, but the order stays day first.

For a year phrase, בשנת is formal and documentary: בשנת 1948, בשנת 2026. Everyday speech can simply use ב־ plus the year. Reading a four-digit year aloud is a large-number problem, so it belongs to large numbers, not to the date syntax itself.

במסמך כתוב שהחברה נוסדה בשנת 1948.

bamismákh katúv shehakhevrá nosdá bishnát élef tsha me'ót arba'ím ushmóne

The document says that the company was founded in 1948. (formal/documentary)

The Hebrew months

The year is normally listed from תשרי, when the year number changes. An ordinary year has these month names:

Order	Month	Pointed	Reads
1	תשרי	תִּשְׁרֵי	tishréi
2	חשוון	חֶשְׁוָון	kheshván
3	כסלו	כִּסְלֵו	kislév
4	טבת	טֵבֵת	tevét
5	שבט	שְׁבָט	shvat
6	אדר	אֲדָר	adár
7	ניסן	נִיסָן	nisán
8	אייר	אִיָּיר	iyár
9	סיוון	סִיוָון	siván
10	תמוז	תַּמּוּז	tamúz
11	אב	אָב	av
12	אלול	אֱלוּל	elúl

In a leap year, Adar splits into אדר א׳ adár álef and אדר ב׳ adár bet. The calendar mechanism, festivals, and the year cycle are on the Hebrew calendar.

Letter-numeral dates

Hebrew dates normally write the day with letters: ה׳ באייר, כ״ז בניסן, ט״ו בשבט. One letter takes a geresh ׳ after it. Two or more letters take gershayim ״ immediately before the final letter. These are the Hebrew punctuation characters U+05F3 and U+05F4, never straight ASCII quotes.

The year is letters too: תשפ״ו is the year 5786, with gershayim before its final ו. The addition rules behind those values belong to letters as numbers.

על ההזמנה כתוב ה׳ באייר תשפ״ו.

al hahazmaná katúv he be'iyár tav-shin-pe-vav

The invitation says 5 Iyar 5786. (letter-name reading)

הטקס הממלכתי ייערך השנה בכ״ז בניסן.

hatékes hamamlakhtí ye'arékh hashaná be'esrím veshivá benisán

The state ceremony will be held this year on 27 Nisan. (cardinal reading of the letter numeral)

How letter dates are read: two live systems

Written letters do not force a single pronunciation. Modern Israeli usage has two live readings:

Masculine cardinal (recommended/careful): ה׳ is חמישה, כ״ז is עשרים ושבעה.
Letter names (common, especially around Hebrew dates): ה׳ is הֵא, כ״א is כָּף אָלֶף.

Within the letter-name reading, say each letter in order. Two festival names are frozen exceptions: ט״ו בשבט is tu bishvát and ט״ו באב is tu be'áv. The spellings of 15 and 16 are both exceptional—ט״ו and ט״ז avoid י״ה and י״ו—but in ordinary date reading ט״ו can be read as fifteen or as tet vav. The reading tu belongs to those two frozen festival names. ט״ז is read as sixteen or as tet záyin, never tu. Another frozen festival name is ל״ג בעומר lag ba'ómer.

בט״ו באב המסעדות מתמלאות בזוגות.

betu be'áv hamis'adót mitmal'ót bezugót

On Tu B'Av, restaurants fill up with couples.

כתוב כ״א בתמוז, וקוראים גם כף אלף בתמוז.

katúv kaf álef betamúz, vekor'ím gam kaf álef betamúz

It is written 21 Tammuz, and one live reading is ‘kaf alef beTammuz.’

💡

Keep writing and reading separate. כ״ז is the written day. You may hear it read as the cardinal esrím veshivá or as the letter names kaf záyin. The marks tell you the value; convention and register choose the voice.

A school notice with both dates

Here is the layout a parent might actually receive; the dates refer to the same Wednesday:

הורים יקרים, טקס יום העצמאות יתקיים ביום רביעי, 22 באפריל 2026, ה׳ באייר תשפ״ו, בשעה שש בערב.

horím yekarím, tékes yom ha'atsma'út yitkayém beyóm revi'í, esrím ushnáyim be'apríl alpáyim esrím vashésh, he be'iyár tav-shin-pe-vav, besha'á shesh ba'érev

Dear parents, the Independence Day ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 22 April 2026 / 5 Iyar 5786, at six in the evening. (school notice)

Common Mistakes

1. Importing English “of” as של. Hebrew puts ב־ on the month.

❌ הפגישה בחמישה של אוגוסט.

Incorrect — dates do not use של before the month: הפגישה בחמישה באוגוסט.

✅ הפגישה בחמישה באוגוסט, מיד אחרי החופשה.

hapgishá bakhamishá be'ogúst, miyád akharéi hakhufshá

The meeting is on 5 August, just after the holiday.

2. Typing an ASCII quote instead of Hebrew gershayim.

❌ כ"ז בניסן

Incorrect as Hebrew date typography — use U+05F4 gershayim before the final letter: כ״ז בניסן.

✅ הטקס נקבע לכ״ז בניסן באולם העירייה.

hatékes nikbá le'esrím veshivá benisán be'ulám ha'iriyá

The ceremony was set for 27 Nisan in the city hall.

3. Building 15 as ten plus five. The normal arithmetic is overridden to avoid writing a divine name.

❌ י״ה בשבט

Incorrect as a letter-numeral date — 15 is written ט״ו, not י״ה.

✅ בט״ו בשבט הכיתה יוצאת לשתול עצים.

betu bishvát hakitá yotsét lishtól etsím

On Tu BiShvat the class is going to plant trees.

4. Omitting ב־ before a Hebrew month.

❌ ה׳ אייר

Incorrect as a date phrase — the month takes ב־: ה׳ באייר.

✅ יום העצמאות מצוין בה׳ באייר.

yom ha'atsma'út metsuyán bekhamishá be'iyár

Independence Day is observed on 5 Iyar. (cardinal reading)

Key Takeaways

A day of the month is a masculine cardinal with no article in recommended Hebrew: חמישה באוגוסט, not an ordinal.
Digit-based ה־5 באוגוסט is widespread written usage; it is a register variant, not something to pretend Israelis never write.
Israeli all-digit order is day.month.year: 5.8.2026 means 5 August.
Hebrew dates write days and years with letter numerals, using geresh ׳ for one letter and gershayim ״ before the final letter for longer strings.
Letter dates have two live readings: a recommended masculine cardinal and a newer letter-name reading. The frozen festival names ט״ו בשבט and ט״ו באב use tu; ט״ז never does.
A leap year has אדר א׳ and אדר ב׳; the full calendar mechanism belongs to the Hebrew-calendar page.

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