The “well known” mnemonic to remember the number of days in each month is:
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November,
All the rest have thirty-one,
But February’s twenty-eight,
The leap year, which comes once in four,
Gives February one day more.
But I have a shit memory, especially for nouns, so after 40 years in this world I still don’t remember it. Fuck it, I don’t even try.
But I have another mnemonic I made up many years ago that’s much shorter:
4, 6, 9, 11 have 30.
Yeah, it’s that simple.
So, here’s how it works for me.
- February is easy pickings to remember. I know it has 28 days, and 29 in a leap year. I’m not going to forget that. So I basically ignore it because it’s easy.
- “30” means 30 days. Therefore, all the rest have 31 days.
- “4, 6, 9, 11” are the numbers of the months with 30 days (April, June, September and November).
The thing about 4, 6, 9, 11 is:
4 + 6 = 10.
9 + 11 = 20.
Both are divisible by 10. Which I easily remember. (I’m probably a bit better with numbers and number patterns).
So that makes the first pair (4 and 6) and the second pair (9 and 11) easy to remember for me.
But this is a very personal thing.
The numbers and the divisions and the bits I can remember… they all work together in my brain.
It’s not for everyone. But if you have trouble remembering the days in each month then maybe this will help you trigger a way to remember something that is personal to you.
And that’s all it needs to be.
You don’t need to remember the common mnemonic at the top.
You just need to find something that works for you.
That’s what I did (and created).