PHP's built-in date() always produces English output. For localized date names, use the IntlDateFormatter class (part of the intl extension) or PHP's strftime() with setlocale().
IntlDateFormatter is the modern, recommended approach.<?php
// Standard date() — always English
echo date('l, F j, Y'); // Monday, July 15, 2024
// IntlDateFormatter — locale-aware (requires intl extension)
$formatter = new IntlDateFormatter(
'fr_FR', // locale
IntlDateFormatter::FULL, // date style
IntlDateFormatter::NONE, // time style
'Europe/Paris' // timezone
);
echo $formatter->format(new DateTime('2024-07-15'));
// lundi 15 juillet 2024
// German locale
$de = new IntlDateFormatter('de_DE', IntlDateFormatter::LONG, IntlDateFormatter::NONE);
echo $de->format(new DateTime('2024-07-15')); // 15. Juli 2024
// Custom ICU pattern
$custom = new IntlDateFormatter(
'en_US',
IntlDateFormatter::NONE,
IntlDateFormatter::NONE,
null,
null,
'EEEE, MMMM d' // e.g. "Monday, July 15"
);
echo $custom->format(new DateTime('2024-07-15'));
// Relative timestamps without intl
function timeAgo(int $timestamp): string {
$diff = time() - $timestamp;
return match (true) {
$diff < 60 => 'just now',
$diff < 3600 => floor($diff / 60) . ' minutes ago',
$diff < 86400 => floor($diff / 3600) . ' hours ago',
default => floor($diff / 86400) . ' days ago',
};
}
echo timeAgo(time() - 3000); // 50 minutes ago
Tip: IntlDateFormatter is far more powerful than strftime(), which was deprecated in PHP 8.1. If you need localized date names, install the intl extension and use IntlDateFormatter.