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Which of the following is grammatical?

  • What date/day is it today?
  • What date/day is today?
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They’re used in different ways. If you’ve simply forgotten what day of the week or day of the month it is, say 'What day is it today?' If you want to confront your husband, wife or partner over forgetting your anniversary, say 'What day is today? See if you can remember.' – Barrie England Sep 12 '12 at 6:40

2 Answers 2

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Both are correct, and it may help to think of them in terms of the statements that answer them.

The simpler form "What day is today?" is answered by "Today is X"

The more common "What day is it today?" is answered by "It is X today", where "it" is a pleonastic pronoun.

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They are both gramatically correct.

However, these are more idiomatic, at least in the UK:

What day is it today?
What day are we on? (I've lost track.)
What's today's date?

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The last example means something different, though. “What day is (it) today?” refers to the day of the week, not the date. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Aug 27 '13 at 12:59
I've heard it refer to either. "What day is it today?" "Tuesday." "No, what day of the month?" "Oh, 27th." – Lunivore Aug 27 '13 at 20:28

protected by RegDwigнt Aug 27 '13 at 12:46


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