# generaltranslation: General Translation Core SDK: formatRelativeTimeFromDate
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-US/docs/core/class/methods/formatting/format-relative-time-from-date.mdx
---
title: formatRelativeTimeFromDate
description: API reference for the formatRelativeTimeFromDate method to format relative time from a Date
---

## Overview

The `formatRelativeTimeFromDate` method formats a relative time string from a `Date`, automatically selecting the most appropriate unit.

```typescript
const gt = new GT();
const pastDate = new Date(Date.now() - 7200000); // 2 hours ago
const formatted = gt.formatRelativeTimeFromDate(pastDate, {
  locales: 'en-US'
});
// Returns: "2 hours ago"
```

## Reference

### Parameters

| Name | Type | Description |
|------|------|-------------|
| `date` | `Date` | The date to format relative to `baseDate` |
| `options?` | `object` | Formatting configuration |

### Options

| Name | Type | Description |
|------|------|-------------|
| `locales?` | `string \| string[]` | Locales for formatting. Falls back to the instance's rendering locales |
| `baseDate?` | `Date` | The base date for comparison. Defaults to `new Date()` |
| `numeric?` | `'always' \| 'auto'` | Whether to always use numeric output. Defaults to `'auto'` |
| `style?` | `'long' \| 'short' \| 'narrow'` | The length of the output. Defaults to `'long'` |
| `localeMatcher?` | `'best fit' \| 'lookup'` | The locale matching algorithm to use |

### Returns

`string` - The formatted relative time string (e.g., "2 hours ago", "in 3 days").

---

## Example

```typescript copy
import GT from 'generaltranslation';
const gt = new GT();

const now = new Date();

// Auto-selects "hours"
const twoHoursAgo = new Date(now.getTime() - 7200000);
gt.formatRelativeTimeFromDate(twoHoursAgo, { locales: 'en-US', baseDate: now });
// Returns: "2 hours ago"

// Auto-selects "days"
const threeDaysLater = new Date(now.getTime() + 259200000);
gt.formatRelativeTimeFromDate(threeDaysLater, { locales: 'fr-FR', baseDate: now });
// Returns: "dans 3 jours"
```

---

## Notes

* Automatically selects the best unit based on the time difference
* Defaults to `numeric: 'auto'` and `style: 'long'`
* If `baseDate` is not provided, defaults to `new Date()`

## Next steps

* See [`formatRelativeTime`](/docs/core/class/methods/formatting/format-relative-time) for explicit value + unit formatting
* See the standalone [`formatRelativeTimeFromDate`](/docs/core/functions/formatting/format-relative-time-from-date) function for usage without a GT instance