Asking "What is the date?"
To ask "What is the date today?", use the phrase Какое сегодня число?. The word число (date/number) is a neuter noun.
Stating the Date
To state the date, use a neuter ordinal number followed by the month in the Genitive case. Because the implied word число is neuter, the ordinal number for the day must take the neuter ending -ое (for example, одиннадцатый becomes одиннадцатое).
The month answers "of what month?" and takes the Genitive case. Most months end in -ь or -й and change to -я (январь → января, май → мая). Months ending in a hard consonant add -а (март → марта).
| What is the date today? Today is the eleventh of January. | Какое сегодня число? Сегодня одиннадцатое января. |
| Today is the twelfth of March, and tomorrow is the thirteenth. | Сегодня двенадцатое марта, а завтра тринадцатое. |
| Today is the fourteenth of May, it is my favorite month. | Сегодня четырнадцатое мая, это мой любимый месяц. |
Past and Future Dates
To talk about yesterday (вчера) or tomorrow (завтра), the structure remains the same. When talking about a past date, use the neuter past-tense verb было (was) to agree with the neuter concept of the date (число).
| Yesterday was the eleventh of February. | Вчера было одиннадцатое февраля. |
| No, yesterday was the thirteenth of April. | Нет, вчера было тринадцатое апреля. |
| Is tomorrow the fourteenth of June? | Завтра четырнадцатое июня? |
You can also use neuter ordinal dates as the subject of a sentence, or drop the words for "today" and "tomorrow" entirely when the context is clear.
| The sixteenth of September is an important day. | Шестнадцатое сентября — важный день. |
| What is the date today? The fifteenth of July. | Какое сегодня число? Пятнадцатое июля. |
