| Symbol | Meaning | Example |
| G | era designator | AD |
| y | year | 1996 |
| M | month in year | July & 07 |
| d | day in month | 10 |
| h | hour in am/pm (1~12) | 12 |
| H | hour in day (0~23) | 0 |
| m | minute in hour | 30 |
| s | second in minute | 55 |
| S | millisecond | 978 |
| E | day in week | Tuesday |
| D | day in year | 189 |
| F | day of week in month | 2 (2nd Wednesday in April) |
| w | week in year | 27 |
| W | week in month | 2 |
| a | am/pm marker | PM |
| k | hour in day (1~24) | 24 |
| K | hour in am/pm (0~11) | 0 |
| z | time zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| ' | escape for text | |
| '' | single quote | ' |