MySQL can perform date arithmetic with addition and subtraction operators by adding together INTERVAL keyword with a unit of time, date or datetime.
Example1
Adding 2 days to a particular date.
mysql> Select '2017-05-20' + INTERVAL 2 day; +-------------------------------+ | '2017-05-20' + INTERVAL 2 day | +-------------------------------+ | 2017-05-22 | +-------------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Example2
Subtracting 2 days from a particular date.
mysql> Select '2017-05-20' - INTERVAL 2 day; +-------------------------------+ | '2017-05-20' - INTERVAL 2 day | +-------------------------------+ | 2017-05-18 | +-------------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Example 3
Adding 2 hours in time.
mysql> Select '2017-05-20 05:04:35' + INTERVAL 3 hour; +-----------------------------------------+ | '2017-05-20 05:04:35' + INTERVAL 3 hour | +-----------------------------------------+ | 2017-05-20 08:04:35 | +-----------------------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
Example 4
Adding one month to a particular date
mysql> Select '2017-05-20 05:04:35' + INTERVAL 1 month; +------------------------------------------+ | '2017-05-20 05:04:35' + INTERVAL 1 month | +------------------------------------------+ | 2017-06-20 05:04:35 | +------------------------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
In this way with the help of INTERVAL keyword, we can perform date arithmetic.