Difference between 月 and 月份 for the noun "A month"?

Question

So, I'm trying to figure out what is a better way to simply translate "An important month". For example if I wanted to talk about the month of Ramadan I originally said "斋月是穆斯林非常重要的一个月“ but a friend (Sean C.) corrected me to say 斋月是穆斯林非常重要的一个月份“ Could someone explain this difference? Does 月 sound incorrect in this instance? Is there a simple way to think about the two as nouns?

Answer 1

Yes, in this context, both are correct, but "月" is more casual than "月份." When you say "斋月对穆斯林是一个很重要的月," it emphasizes the duration of the entire month. On the other hand, "斋月对穆斯林是个重要的月份" highlights the specific month itself. However, in the context of expressing the importance of Ramadan to Muslims, their meaning are basically the same.

Answer 2

In this case, either 月 or 月份 is correct. Here 月 is more casual than 月份。

As nouns, 月 is more general while 月份 is more particular. For example: 9月(September), 9月份(the month of September). Also, 月 can be used as a counting unit. For example, 1个月 (1 month), 2个月 (2 months), yet it’s incorrect to say 1个月份，2个月份。

Answer 3

月 is more casual while 月份 is more formal.