July 4, July 4th, July Fourth or Fourth of July?
Every American knows the correct way to write their country's birthday -- or do they? 🤔
According to Associated Press style, what is the correct way to write America’s birthday?
July Fourth, Fourth of July, Independence Day
July 4th, 4th of July, Independence Day
July 4, July 4th, 4th of July, Independence Day
July 4, July Fourth, July 4th, Fourth of July, 4th of July, Independence Day
And the correct answer is option one, “July Fourth,” “Fourth of July” and “Independence Day.” The abbreviated form “the Fourth” would also be correct. Some of the other options, “July 4th” and “4th of July,” are not necessarily incorrect but don’t conform with the Associated Press style approach of spelling out the numbers one through nine and using numerals for numbers 10 and higher. Additionally, “July 4” would be acceptable to use to write this day of the year but not the name of the holiday that falls on this day. Other stylistic details to note are that the holiday name is properly written with an article, "a" or "the," as in “Next week, the Fourth of July is coming” instead of “Next week, Fourth of July is coming,” and when the holiday name is used in a hyphenated form as a modifier, it should be written with a hyphen only after "July": “Fourth of July-themed party” or “Fourth of July-inspired outfit.”