# DATE\$1ADD function
<a name="DATE_ADD_function"></a>

Returns the date that is num\$1days after start\$1date. 

## Syntax
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```
date_add(start_date, num_days) 
```

## Arguments
<a name="DATE_ADD_function-arguments"></a>

 *start\$1date*   
The starting date value.

 *num\$1days*   
The number of days to add (integer). A positive number adds days, a negative number subtracts days.

## Return type
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DATE

## Examples
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The following example adds one day to a date: 

```
SELECT date_add('2016-07-30', 1);

Result:
2016-07-31
```

The following example adds multiple days.

```
SELECT date_add('2016-07-30', 5);

Result:
2016-08-04
```

## Usage notes
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This documentation is for Spark SQL's DATE\$1ADD function, which provides a simpler interface for adding days to dates compared to some other SQL variants. For adding other intervals like months or years, different functions may be required.