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When giving times and dates, such as for opening and closing times of attractions, restaurants and bars, use the following formatting guidelines.

Times

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Use either the 24-hour format (09:30–17:00) or the 12-hour format (9:30AM–5PM). Do not use both within one article  choose one by following predominant local usage. Ask yourself: "Which format will visitors see in timetables, on shop doors and in newspapers?"

It can be assumed that times are in the local time zone.

Regardless of format

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24 hours daily

  For establishments that don't close use "24 hours daily".

12-hour format

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9AM

  • Minutes are not shown for full hours.
  • Don't use spaces.
  • Omit periods (full stops) in "AM" and "PM".

9:15AM

  Where minutes are shown, use a colon as the separator.

midnight
noon

  Use "midnight" for 12PM and "noon" for 12AM.

9:15AM–5PM
8–11AM

  • Separate a range with en dash rather than a hyphen.
  • Don't use spaces.
  • Use "AM" and "PM" only once for a range when both parts are AM or PM.

24-hour format

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09:00
09:15

  • Always use two digits, both for the hour and the minutes.
    (Minutes, i.e. zeroes, are shown for full hours.)
  • Include the leading zero
  • Use a colon as the separator.

00:00
12:00

  Use 00:00 for midnight and 12:00 for noon.

09:15–17:00

  • Separate a range with en dash rather than a hyphen.
  • Don't use spaces.

Days

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M Tu W Th F Sa Su

  Abbreviate days to the minimum number of letters.
  (Do so only in lists and where space is short.)

Good Friday

  Spell the day out when it is part of a named day.

M–F

  • Separate a range with en dash rather than a hyphen.
  • Don't use spaces.

M Tu

  Separate two consecutive days with a space only.

M W F

  Separate days that are not in a range with spaces only.

M–F 09:15–17:00

  When combining days with time, put the days first.

09:15–17:00 daily

  For all seven days use only "daily".

3–11PM (closed Tu)

  For establishments open six days a week, state the day they are closed.

Dates

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1 Jan 2001

  Use the date format of day–month–year.

  • Day: Use two digits, without a leading zero.
  • Month: Abbreviate to first three letters where needed (lists, listings, etc.).
  • Year: Use four digits.

Durations

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2 yr

  Years

2 wk

  Weeks

2 hr

  Hours

2 min

  Minutes

5 hr 15 min
5¼ hr

  Hours and minutes (stick to one style for the whole article).

Decades and centuries

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the 1920s

  • Decades should be shown in digits
  • Do not use "the twenties" or "the 1920's".

the 19th century

  • Centuries should be shown in digits.
    (Do not use "the XIX century", "the nineteenth century", or the "19th Century".)
  • Also consider whether to use, for example, "the 1800s" instead of "the 19th century".