# generaltranslation: General Translation Core SDK: formatRelativeTimeFromDate
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-US/docs/core/functions/formatting/format-relative-time-from-date.mdx
---
title: formatRelativeTimeFromDate
description: Standalone function to format relative time from a Date, automatically selecting the best unit
---

## Overview

The standalone `formatRelativeTimeFromDate` function formats a relative time string from a `Date`, automatically selecting the most appropriate unit (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years).

```typescript
import { formatRelativeTimeFromDate } from 'generaltranslation';

const pastDate = new Date(Date.now() - 7200000); // 2 hours ago
const formatted = formatRelativeTimeFromDate(pastDate, {
  locales: 'en-US',
  baseDate: new Date()
});
// 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[]` | **Required.** Locales for formatting |
| `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

### Basic usage

```typescript copy
import { formatRelativeTimeFromDate } from 'generaltranslation';

const now = new Date();

// 2 hours ago
const pastDate = new Date(now.getTime() - 7200000);
console.log(formatRelativeTimeFromDate(pastDate, {
  locales: 'en-US',
  baseDate: now
}));
// Output: "2 hours ago"

// 3 days in the future
const futureDate = new Date(now.getTime() + 259200000);
console.log(formatRelativeTimeFromDate(futureDate, {
  locales: 'en-US',
  baseDate: now
}));
// Output: "in 3 days"
```

### Multiple locales

```typescript copy
import { formatRelativeTimeFromDate } from 'generaltranslation';

const pastDate = new Date(Date.now() - 86400000); // ~1 day ago
const now = new Date();

const locales = ['en-US', 'fr-FR', 'ja-JP', 'de-DE'];

locales.forEach(locale => {
  console.log(`${locale}: ${formatRelativeTimeFromDate(pastDate, {
    locales: locale,
    baseDate: now
  })}`);
});
// Output:
// en-US: yesterday
// fr-FR: hier
// ja-JP: 昨日
// de-DE: gestern
```

---

## Notes

* Automatically selects the best unit based on the difference between `date` and `baseDate`
* Defaults to `numeric: 'auto'` and `style: 'long'`
* If `baseDate` is not provided, defaults to `new Date()` — be aware this can cause hydration mismatches in server-rendered apps
* Uses [`Intl.RelativeTimeFormat`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Intl/RelativeTimeFormat) under the hood

## Next steps

* See [`formatRelativeTime`](/docs/core/functions/formatting/format-relative-time) for explicit value + unit formatting
* See [`formatDateTime`](/docs/core/functions/formatting/format-date-time) for standalone date/time formatting
* See GT class [`formatRelativeTimeFromDate`](/docs/core/class/methods/formatting/format-relative-time-from-date) for instance-based usage