Months in English as read in Russian. Online pronunciation of the names of the month in English

Hello, dear readers! Have you ever thought about how often you mention the seasons and talk about the weather? Whether it's communicating with colleagues, emails, talking on the phone - we do all this almost every day. We discuss what the weather is like outside today, talk about our favorite time of year, or say what time of year is our birthday. Seasons

What if you are learning English or communicating on social networks with a British or American friend? What if at school or university you were asked to write an English essay on the topic “Seasons”? As you may have guessed, today we will talk about how to name the seasons in English language, or as English speakers call them - seasons.

How to name months, days of the week and seasons in English is one of the most important topics that anyone who has started learning English must know. These are the basics that will help you communicate with native speakers when writing letters, messages, or when traveling abroad. In addition, knowing the seasons of the year in English is useful for general development.

First, let's list the seasons, write their pronunciation and translation:

• winter ["wɪntə] - winter
• spring - spring
• summer ["sʌmə] - summer
• autumn ["ɔːtəm] (in the UK) or fall in the USA - autumn

As you'll notice, Americans mean "autumn" differently than the British. They prefer to call this season "fall". Not to be confused with the action verb "to fall".

How to talk about seasons in English?

If you need to write an essay or simply talk about the seasons in English, then you should do it as follows:

First you need to list all the seasons, something like this: a year has four seasons - winter, spring, summer, autumn. Then you can tell which months are in each season. And after that, move on to a description of each season: weather phenomena, events in nature or in people’s lives.

These translation exercises will help you write essays and remember the topic.

Grammar

What grammar rules in English do you need to remember in order to correctly use the seasons in speech and writing?

• You already know that in America they use “in the fall” instead of “in autumn”
• The preposition “in” is used to denote seasons: in summer
• Only in the combination “in the fall” is the article used; in all other cases it is not used with the seasons
• The article is used only when it is implied or there is a clarifying definition: in the winter of 1953
• In combinations of the nouns “winter, spring, summer, autumn” with the words “That, all, every, any, one, each, next, last, this” neither an article nor a preposition is used: this spring
• And finally, only two seasons apply in possessive case— autumn and spring: This autumn’s festival… but The festival this winter…

Just 6 simple rules.

It's raining cats and dogs

This popular expression, which characterizes heavy autumn rain, is familiar to us from childhood. English also has such phraseological units. So they call a downpour with a cold strong wind the phrase “it is raining cats and dogs,” which translated means “rain of cats and dogs.” Why cats and dogs?

This English idiom comes from the past. People used to believe that witches turned into cats and, foreshadowing bad weather, flew under the clouds on brooms. And dogs, according to legend, were servants of Odin, the god of thunder, and personified the wind. Meeting together under the clouds, cats and dogs fell down along with the rain and wind.

Another suggestion was made by famous writer Jonathan Swift used this expression in one of his works. Where it was described that the drainage system in cities of the 17th and 18th centuries could not withstand heavy rain, and the entire contents of the sewer spilled onto the street, including the corpses of cats, dogs and rats.

The words in English that are responsible for the names of the months largely coincide in written and spoken versions with similar words in Russian and many European languages. This fact is not at all surprising: all these countries use the Gregorian calendar as the basis for calculating the year by months. Therefore, learning how to write and how to pronounce months in English is not at all difficult, but there are some nuances that are difficult.

Historical knowledge about the origin of these words will help you understand how months are written in English. Then memorizing them in writing and in speech will become meaningful and easier.

History of names

These words are not purely English in origin, but have Latin roots. Here is the path to development of each month's name with a brief background, as seen in writing and in modern English.

January

The first winter month in England before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar was called "Wulf (wolf) Month" (now and henceforth - first written in Old English). This meant “wolf month”, because during this period in England, due to cold weather and lack of food in the forests, wolves came out to villages and began to attack livestock, even people. The name we have now comes from the name of the two-faced Janus, the Roman god of the beginning and the end.

February

The second winter month in Britain was once called "Sprote Kale Month": this meant that cabbage (kale) began to sprout in the pantries. And in the ancient times of Rome, the month of February was a period of repentance, remission of sins, hence the origin of the name - in honor of the god of purification and remembrance of the dead, Februus.

March

The beginning of spring in the old English calendar was associated with strong winds, that’s why this time was called “Hyld Month” - the month of the winds. The Gregorian calendar system brought with it a word that arose from the god of war, Mars: March was for a long time in the Roman Empire the first month of the year, accordingly it was named after the main deity.

April

April, in which, with the introduction of Christianity in Britain, the holy holiday of Easter was always celebrated, was previously called “Easter Month” (Easter - Easter). The emergence of a later name is the subject of many years of debate among linguists. Some argue that the word arose from the name of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Others are more inclined to the version that the ancestor of the word “April” in English was the Roman word “aperio”, meaning “to open, to bloom.” This option is more plausible, because it is in April that leaves bloom on the trees and the first flowers appear in the meadows.

May

The wonderful month of May, when the meadows were covered with fresh grass, was called by the British in the old days “the month of triple milking” - “Thrimilce (three milk) Month”. The cows happily ate fresh grass after the boring winter hay and gave so much milk that they had to be milked three times a day. The Romans gave May the name in honor of the goddess Maia, who was highly revered by them as bringing fertility and prosperity.

June

June, due to the onset of droughts, was called in old England “Dere Month” (dere is the previous version of the word dry), that is, “dry month.” The Romans named this period in the calendar after Juno, the wife of Jupiter. The ancient goddess, patroness of marriages, was very loved by Roman women.

July

Next summer month The British called it “Maed Month” (maed – modern meadow – meadow), “month of meadows”: flowers and herbs bloomed wildly in the pastures. The Romans based the name of July on the name of Emperor Julius Caesar, who was born in this month.

August

“Weod Month” (weed - herbs, plants) - this is what August was called in old England, because the harvesting of hay for the winter began. The Romans chose the nickname of Emperor Octavian Augustus for the name of this month: “August” meant “divine.”

September

“Harvest Month” or “harvest month” is the old name for the first autumn month. The Roman version comes from the number “sept” (seven): since March was once the first in the Roman calendar, September was correspondingly the seventh.

October

October, when they started making wine, the British called “Win ​​(modern wine) Month” - “wine month”. The Roman version is also associated with a number, specifically with the eighth place of October according to the old calendar - “octo” in Latin.

November

November was once called “Blod (blood) Month”, translated as “bloody month”. In the pre-Christian period, it was a time of sacrifice (sometimes even human) pagan gods. The Romans, again, did not think too much and gave November a name based on the serial number from the Latin word “novem” - nine.

December

Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the British called December “Halig (holy) Month”, that is, “holy month”: after all, Jesus Christ was born in December. Romans last month The years were again named by number, specifically “decem”, ten.

Seasons

From school lessons we know that the year consists of four seasons - seasons: winter, spring, summer, autumn.

Spelling months in English, their use with prepositions

The first information important to remember is: The month in English is always written with a capital letter and is not placed in front of it..

September is the least favorite month for me: I always have vocation in August and have to begin working in September.
September is my least favorite month: I always have a vacation in August, and in September I have to start work.

If the month is mentioned in speech as an adverbial of time, then the preposition in is used.

If it is possible, I would like to have vocation in August: I am planning to go to Anapa, and the weather in August there is the best.
If possible, I would like to get a vacation in August: I am planning to go to Anapa, and the weather there is the best in August.

However, if and is called together with the month, then the preposition on (hereinafter referred to as the ordinal number) is placed before the number, and the preposition of is placed before the month.

My nephew Tim was born on the second of December.
My nephew Tim was born on the second of December.

In combination with the words every (each), last (last), each (each), this (this) prepositions are not used.

Last January, I remember very well, the weather was cloudy and muddy.
Last January, I remember very well, the weather was cloudy and slushy.

This April we did not have days-off at all: we had a very busy schedule.
This April we had no days off at all: we had a very busy schedule.

Writing and pronouncing dates with months

Abbreviations

Abbreviating the names of months in English in writing (if necessary) is done as follows:

May, June, July never abbreviated, always written as a whole word;

September reduced to four letters, looks like short version– Sept. (dot required);

the remaining months are abbreviated to three letters and must be followed by a period. For example, Jan.- this is the short version of January.

How to quickly learn the names of the months

The simplest and effective method- poems, songs and associations.

For example, here is a short children's song about the months of the year - a great way to memorize words for both children and adults.

And after reading this poem, you will certainly not forget the names of the months in English.

January brings the snow, (January brings snow)
Makes our feet and fingers glow. (Feet and fingers burn from the cold)
February snows again
And sometimes it brings us rain. (And sometimes it rains)
March brings sunny days and winds (March gives sunny days and wind)
So we know that spring begins. (So ​​we know that spring has begun.)
April brings the primrose sweet, (April brings sweet primroses,)
We see daisies at our feet. (We see daisies under our feet)
May brings flowers, joy and grass (May brings flowers, joy and herbs)
And the holidays for us. (And holidays for us.)
June brings tulips, lilies, roses. (June brings tulips, lilies, roses.)
Fills the children`s hands with poses. (Fills children's hands with bouquets.)
Hot July brings apples and cherries (Hot July gives apples and cherries)
And a lot of other berries. (And many other berries.)
August brings us golden corn, (August brings golden grains,)
Then the harvest home is borne. (Fills the bins with harvest.)
Warm September brings us school, (Warm September we go to school)
Days are shorter, nights are cool. (The days are shorter, the nights are colder.)
Fresh October brings much fruit (Fresh October brings a lot of fruit)
Then to gather them is good. (Which are so fun to collect.)
Red November brings us joy, (Red November brings us joy,)
Fun for every girl and boy. (Entertainment for every girl and boy)
Cold December brings us skating, (We go skating in Cold December)
For the New Year we are waiting. (And we are waiting for the New Year.)

P.S. You might be interested in reading about each month of the year.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

2 Some features of the use of words denoting months and seasons in English

1. Please note that the names of the months of the year are always written with a capital letter.

2. To separate the date and month from the year, use a comma in dates:

Not born June 14, 1940– He was born on June 14, 1940.
It happened in May, 1977– This happened in May 1977.

3. With the names of the seasons, the article is used only in cases where there is or is implied a clarifying definition: in the spring of 1962.

4. When designating full (indicating the day/month/year) dates, the number is indicated by an ordinal number, and the year is indicated by a cardinal number, and the word year not pronounced: on January 17, 1992 = on the seventeenth of June, nineteen ninety-two.

3 The use of prepositions with the names of months and seasons in English

1. Prepositions with the word month:

by the month– monthly;
for a month– within a month;
in a month- a month later.

2. In combinations of month names with words all, any, each, every, last, next, one, this prepositions are not placed before them: this March– in March of this year.

3. In time circumstances, the preposition is used with the name of the month in: in April- in April, early in April– at the beginning of April, but if the date/day in the month is indicated, then the preposition is used on: on the second of April- second of April, on a bright April day- a bright April day.
If the date is used in the attributive function, then the preposition is used of: a letter of April the second– letter dated April 2 (dated April 2).

4. The preposition is used with the names of the seasons in: in autumn.

5. In combinations of nouns autumn, summer, spring, winter, year, day, week, month with words all, any, each, every, last, next, this, that or one neither prepositions nor articles are used before them: this month- this month, last month- last month month, next month- next month.

You may come any day you like– You can come any day.
Not arrived last week (month, autumn)– He arrived last week (last month, last fall).
We go to the country every summer– We go to the village every summer.

4 Songs about the months of the year in English

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5 Song about the seasons in English

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6 Months of the year in English idioms

a month of Sundays- joking. a long time, an eternity
not in a month of Sundays / never in a month of Sundays- when the crayfish whistles on the mountain; after the rain on Thursday, i.e. never
fence-month– time of year when hunting is prohibited

January barometer- exchanges. "January Barometer" (a method of predicting market conditions, according to which market activity increases in those years when the value of the Standard & Poor's 500 index increases in the month of January, and decreases when the value of this index decreases in the month of January)

February fill-dike– rainy period (usually February); letters “filling ditches” (an epithet for February, characterized (in England) by heavy rain and snowfall); (Scottish) Aquarius month
February fair-maid– snowdrop

March beer– March beer (a seasonal drink produced mainly due to tradition; goes on sale in mid-March and is sold for no more than a month)
the Ides of March– the Ides of March, the fifteenth of March (the date became famous in history, since on this day in 44 BC the assassination of Julius Caesar occurred)

April fish- April Fool's joke
April-fool- victim of an April Fool's joke
April weather– 1) now it’s rain, now it’s sunny; 2) sometimes laughter, sometimes tears
April Fools" Day– “All Fools’ Day”, April 1st (prank day)

May– (at the University of Cambridge) a) = Mays exams; b) (Mays) boat races (late May or early June)
May and December/January- marriage between a young girl and an old man
May Day- May Day
Mayflower– a flower that blooms in May: maynika, lily of the valley, hawthorn
May-queen- a girl chosen for her beauty as the queen of May (in the May games)

7 Seasons in English idioms

full of the joys of spring- joking. radiant and cheerful, brimming with optimism and energy
day spring- dawn, dawn

to summer and winter– 1) spend the whole year; 2) remain faithful; 3) leave unchanged; 4) discuss something at length and in detail.
summer and winter, winter and summer– all year round
a woman of some thirty summers- woman about thirty
Indian (St. Martin's, St. Luke's) summer- Indian summer
summer lightning– lightning
summer time– “summer time” (when the clocks are set one hour ahead)
summer sausage– dry smoked sausage, raw smoked sausage

in the autumn of life– in old age

green winter– snowless, mild winter
blackberry/dogwood/redbud winter– colloquial spring frosts (coinciding with the flowering of blackberries, dogwoods, and crimson)
winter cherry– physalis
wintertide- poet. winter
fall-winter– end of winter
after-winter– return of winter
Winter War– “Winter War” (war between the USSR and Finland in 1939–40)

8 Times and months of the year in English proverbs and omens

One crow does not make a winter.
One crow doesn't make winter.

One woodcock doesn't make winter.
One woodcock doesn't make a winter.

They must hunger in winter that will not work in summer.
Those who do not want to work in the summer will starve in the winter.

Blossom in spring – fruit in autumn.
Blooms in spring and bears fruit in autumn.

One swallow does not make a summer.
One swallow doesn't make a summer.

If you do not sow in the spring you will not reap in the autumn.
If you don't sow in the spring, there will be nothing to harvest in the fall.

April is the cruellest month.
April is the cruelest month.

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
March comes like a lion and goes out like a lamb. (March comes with a storm and leaves with warmth.)

March grass never did good.
Early grass won't do any good.

April showers brings May flowers.
There are rains in April, flowers in May.

A warm January, a cold May.
Warm January – cold May.

9 Games, songs and fairy tales in English about the months and seasons (flash)

Origin of the names of the months of the year in English

In many languages, including English and Russian, the names of the months are of Latin origin. In the ancient Roman calendar, the year consisted of ten months, and March was considered the first month. Later, at the turn of the 7th and 6th centuries BC. BC, a calendar was borrowed from Etruria in which the year was divided into 12 months: December was followed by January and February. Months in English and their equivalents from the Roman calendar:
March/Martius – named after the god Mars;
April/Aprilis - named, presumably, from the Latin word aperire - to open (beginning of spring), (according to another version, the month is named after the Greek goddess Aphrodite);
May/Maius – named after the Roman goddess Maya;
June/Junius – named after the goddess Juno;
July/Quintilis, later Julius - named after Julius Caesar in 44 BC. (previously the month was called from the word quintus - fifth, because it was the 5th month of the old Roman calendar, which began in March and consisted of ten months);
August/Sextilis, later Augustus – named after Emperor Augustus in 8 BC. (previously called from the word sextus - sixth);
September/September – from the word septem – seven;
October/October – from the word octo – eight;
November/November – from the word novem – nine;
December/December – from the word decem – ten;
January/Januarius – named after the god Janus;
February/Februarius – month of cleansing, from lat. februare - to cleanse, to make an atoning sacrifice at the end of the year.

Abbreviated names of months of the year in English

January - January/Jan
February - February/Feb
March - March/Mar
April - April/April
May - May/May
June - June/Jun
July - July/Jul
August – August/Aug
September - September/Sept/Sep
October - October/Oct
November - November/Nov
December - December/Dec

Coloring pages, riddles and exercises on the topic: seasons and months of the year in English

Children's poems about the seasons and months of the year in English

Thirty days hath September... (1)

Thirty days has September,
April, June and November;
February has twenty-eight alone.

But leap year coming once in four
Gives February one day more.

(hath = has; alone- one; only; all the rest- other; leap year coming once in four– a leap year, occurring once every four years)

Thirty days hath September... (2)

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
February has twenty-eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting leap-year, that"s the time
When February"s days are twenty-nine.

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March winds
And April showers
Bright ahead
May flowers.

Sign
(translation by S. Ya. Marshak)

Windy in March
It rains in April
In May there are violets and
Wait for lilies of the valley.

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Cut theses in May,
They grow in a day;
Cut them in June
That is too soon;
Cut them in July
Then they will die.

(to cut- cut, cut; thistle– bot. thistle; to die- die, perish)

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Spring is showery, flowery, bowery;
Summer – hoppy, croppy, poppy;
Autumn – wheezy, sneezy, freezy;
Winter – slippy, drippy, nippy.

(showery– rainy; flowery– blooming; bowery– shady; hoppy– intoxicating; croppy– round-headed; poppy– poppy; wheezy– wheezing; sneezy– sneezing; freezy– freezing; slippy– sleepy; drippy– stupid; nippy- frosty)

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A swarm of bees in May
Is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July
Is not worth a fly.

(a swarm of bees- swarm of bees; is worth- costs; a load of hay– a cart of hay; a silver spoon- silver spoon; fly- fly)

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In Spring I look gay
Decked in comely array,
In Summer more clothing I wear;
When colder it grows,
I fling off my clothes,
And in Winter quite naked appear.

Cold and raw the north wind doth blow,
Bleak in the morning early;
All the hills are covered with snow,
And winter's now come fairly.

The First of May

The fair maid who, the first of May,
Goes to the fields at break of day,
And washes in dew from the hawthorn-tree,
Will ever after be handsome.

36% of Americans say spring is their favorite time of year/ spring. 27% prefer autumn/ autumn, 25% – summer/ summer, 11% – winter/ winter. Interestingly, love for the seasons depends on age: young Americans love summer more. summer, and the elderly – winter/ winter.
Americans' favorite months of the year are May/ May(chosen by 14% of respondents), October/ October(13%), June/ June and December/ December(12% each). The overwhelming majority of US residents do not like January/ January, February/ February and March/ March.