Can I use "We refer to the Insurer’s instructions at 1218hrs on 23rd July 2017"?
I'm not sure whether two prepositions at the same time are necessary or redundant.
Thanks in advance.
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There are many ways to communicate date and time. In formal English, these are a couple of good ways to say what you're trying to say:
We refer to the insurer's instructions from/of July 23rd, 2017, at 12:18 p.m.
We refer to the insurer's instructions from/of the 23rd of July, 2017, at 12:18 p.m.
It seems like you might be using military time? Unless you're in the military or communicating with the military, it's probably better to use standard a.m./p.m. time.
I believe from is a a little better than of, but I think it's ultimately a matter of choice, and both are grammatical in formal usage.
If it's OK to be less formal, you can express time in other ways:
We refer to the insurer's instructions from 2017-July-23 12:18 PM
I would even argue that this is a more clear and readable way to present a date and time, and better than the formal usages above. Note that it is very common to use PM or P.M. instead of p.m.
One point to keep in mind: I believe it's better to spell out the month rather than use the number that represents the month. For example, January is usually better than 1 or 01. This is because different parts of the world order the parts of a date differently:
U.S. format: 01/02/2017 => January 2, 2017
European format: 01/02/2017 => February 1, 2017
You can easily avoid this confusion by spelling out the month or the abbreviation for it:
2017-Jan-02
Jan-02-2017
So to answer your question, if your statement must be very formal, then yes, I believe it's good to use two prepositions (from/of followed by at). But for most situations, it's fine or even preferable to use one preposition like so: from 2017-July-23 12:18 PM
Another note: You can of course put the time before the date, but only if you use both at and from/of. You should only put the time before the date if you're trying to emphasize the time for some reason. I think it's more common and sensible to put the date first, then the time.
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Thanks for your detailed explanation which helps me broaden my horizons. Btw, can I use "23rd July 2017"? Just because we prefer the time order "dd/mm/yyyy". – sanba06c Oct 19 '17 at 4:23
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If it needs to be formal/official, then say 23rd of July, 2017. If it's less formal, then 23rd July 2017 is probably fine, because it's clear and sensible for the reader. – Ringo Oct 19 '17 at 4:43
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As you can see, there are a thousand ways to express a date/time. Just choose a way that works well for you, and remember to use that format consistently throughout the document. – Ringo Oct 19 '17 at 4:46
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