diff --git a/src/ChronosInterface.php b/src/ChronosInterface.php
index 2d4ec727..d3b47d56 100644
--- a/src/ChronosInterface.php
+++ b/src/ChronosInterface.php
@@ -842,6 +842,31 @@ public function subSecond($value = 1);
      */
     public function subSeconds($value);
 
+    /**
+     * Get the difference in a human readable format in the current locale.
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the past to default now:
+     * 1 hour ago
+     * 5 months ago
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the future to default now:
+     * 1 hour from now
+     * 5 months from now
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the past to another value:
+     * 1 hour before
+     * 5 months before
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the future to another value:
+     * 1 hour after
+     * 5 months after
+     *
+     * @param \Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface|null $other The datetime to compare with.
+     * @param bool $absolute Removes time difference modifiers ago, after, etc
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function diffForHumans(ChronosInterface $other = null, $absolute = false);
+
     /**
      * Get the difference in years
      *
diff --git a/src/DifferenceFormatter.php b/src/DifferenceFormatter.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..21c46810
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/DifferenceFormatter.php
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ *
+ * Licensed under The MIT License
+ * Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice.
+ *
+ * @copyright     Copyright (c) Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ * @copyright     Copyright (c) Brian Nesbitt <brian@nesbot.com>
+ * @link          http://cakephp.org CakePHP(tm) Project
+ * @license       http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php MIT License
+ */
+namespace Cake\Chronos;
+
+use Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface;
+use Cake\Chronos\Translator;
+
+/**
+ * Handles formatting differences in text.
+ *
+ * Provides a swappable component for other libraries to leverage.
+ * when localizing or customizing the difference output.
+ */
+class DifferenceFormatter
+{
+    /**
+     * Constructor.
+     *
+     * @param \Cake\Chronos\Translator|null $translate The text translator object.
+     */
+    public function __construct($translate = null)
+    {
+        $this->translate = $translate ?: new Translator();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the difference in a human readable format.
+     *
+     * @param \Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface $date The datetime to start with.
+     * @param \Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface|null $other The datetime to compare against.
+     * @param bool $absolute removes time difference modifiers ago, after, etc
+     * @return string The difference between the two days in a human readable format
+     * @see Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface::diffForHumans
+     */
+    public function diffForHumans(ChronosInterface $date, ChronosInterface $other = null, $absolute = false)
+    {
+        $isNow = $other === null;
+        if ($isNow) {
+            $other = $date->now($date->tz);
+        }
+        $diffInterval = $date->diff($other);
+
+        switch (true) {
+            case ($diffInterval->y > 0):
+                $unit = 'year';
+                $count = $diffInterval->y;
+                break;
+            case ($diffInterval->m > 0):
+                $unit = 'month';
+                $count = $diffInterval->m;
+                break;
+            case ($diffInterval->d > 0):
+                $unit = 'day';
+                $count = $diffInterval->d;
+                if ($count >= ChronosInterface::DAYS_PER_WEEK) {
+                    $unit = 'week';
+                    $count = (int)($count / ChronosInterface::DAYS_PER_WEEK);
+                }
+                break;
+            case ($diffInterval->h > 0):
+                $unit = 'hour';
+                $count = $diffInterval->h;
+                break;
+            case ($diffInterval->i > 0):
+                $unit = 'minute';
+                $count = $diffInterval->i;
+                break;
+            default:
+                $count = $diffInterval->s;
+                $unit = 'second';
+                break;
+        }
+        if ($count === 0) {
+            $count = 1;
+        }
+        $time = $this->translate->plural($unit, $count, ['count' => $count]);
+        if ($absolute) {
+            return $time;
+        }
+        $isFuture = $diffInterval->invert === 1;
+        $transId = $isNow ? ($isFuture ? 'from_now' : 'ago') : ($isFuture ? 'after' : 'before');
+
+        // Some langs have special pluralization for past and future tense.
+        $tryKeyExists = $unit . '_' . $transId;
+        if ($this->translate->exists($tryKeyExists)) {
+            $time = $this->translate->plural($tryKeyExists, $count, ['count' => $count]);
+        }
+        return $this->translate->singular($transId, ['time' => $time]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Traits/DifferenceTrait.php b/src/Traits/DifferenceTrait.php
index 52f9f82f..b191e5a3 100644
--- a/src/Traits/DifferenceTrait.php
+++ b/src/Traits/DifferenceTrait.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 use Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface;
 use Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterval;
+use Cake\Chronos\DifferenceFormatter;
 use DatePeriod;
 use DateTimeInterface;
 
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@
  */
 trait DifferenceTrait
 {
+    protected static $diffFormatter;
+
     /**
      * Get the difference in years
      *
@@ -234,4 +237,49 @@ public static function fromNow($datetime)
         $timeNow = new static();
         return $timeNow->diff($datetime);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the difference in a human readable format.
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the past to default now:
+     * 1 hour ago
+     * 5 months ago
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the future to default now:
+     * 1 hour from now
+     * 5 months from now
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the past to another value:
+     * 1 hour before
+     * 5 months before
+     *
+     * When comparing a value in the future to another value:
+     * 1 hour after
+     * 5 months after
+     *
+     * @param \Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface|null $other The datetime to compare with.
+     * @param bool $absolute removes time difference modifiers ago, after, etc
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function diffForhumans(ChronosInterface $other = null, $absolute = false)
+    {
+        return $this->diffFormatter()->diffForHumans($this, $other, $absolute);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the difference formatter instance or overwrite the current one.
+     *
+     * @param Cake\Chronos\DifferenceFormatter|null $formatter The formatter instance when setting.
+     * @return Cake\Chronos\DifferenceFormatter The formatter instance.
+     */
+    public function diffFormatter($formatter = null)
+    {
+        if ($formatter === null) {
+            if (static::$diffFormatter === null) {
+                static::$diffFormatter = new DifferenceFormatter();
+            }
+            return static::$diffFormatter;
+        }
+        return static::$diffFormatter = $translator;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Translator.php b/src/Translator.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..44807654
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Translator.php
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ *
+ * Licensed under The MIT License
+ * Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice.
+ *
+ * @copyright     Copyright (c) Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ * @link          http://cakephp.org CakePHP(tm) Project
+ * @license       http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php MIT License
+ */
+namespace Cake\Chronos;
+
+/**
+ * Basic english only 'translator' for diffForHumans()
+ */
+class Translator
+{
+    /**
+     * Translation strings.
+     *
+     * @var array
+     */
+    public static $strings = [
+        'year' => '1 year',
+        'year_plural' => '{count} years',
+        'month' => '1 month',
+        'month_plural' => '{count} months',
+        'week' => '1 week',
+        'week_plural' => '{count} weeks',
+        'day' => '1 day',
+        'day_plural' => '{count} days',
+        'hour' => '1 hour',
+        'hour_plural' => '{count} hours',
+        'minute' => '1 minute',
+        'minute_plural' => '{count} minutes',
+        'second' => '1 second',
+        'second_plural' => '{count} seconds',
+        'ago' => '{time} ago',
+        'from_now' => '{time} from now',
+        'after' => '{time} after',
+        'before' => '{time} before',
+    ];
+
+    /**
+     * Check if a translation key exists.
+     *
+     * @param string $key The key to check.
+     * @return bool Whether or not the key exists.
+     */
+    public function exists($key)
+    {
+        return isset(static::$strings[$key]);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get a plural message.
+     *
+     * @param string $key The key to use.
+     * @param string $count The number of items in the translation.
+     * @param array $vars Additional context variables.
+     * @return string The translated message or ''.
+     */
+    public function plural($key, $count, array $vars = [])
+    {
+        if ($count == 1) {
+            return $this->singular($key, $vars);
+        }
+        return $this->singular($key . '_plural', ['count' => $count] + $vars);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get a singular message.
+     *
+     * @param string $key The key to use.
+     * @param array $vars Additional context variables.
+     * @return string The translated message or ''.
+     */
+    public function singular($key, array $vars = [])
+    {
+        if (isset(static::$strings[$key])) {
+            $varKeys = array_keys($vars);
+            foreach ($varKeys as $i => $k) {
+                $varKeys[$i] = '{' . $k . '}';
+            }
+            return str_replace($varKeys, $vars, static::$strings[$key]);
+        }
+        return '';
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/DateTime/DiffTest.php b/tests/DateTime/DiffTest.php
index 201c5e52..83006167 100644
--- a/tests/DateTime/DiffTest.php
+++ b/tests/DateTime/DiffTest.php
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
  * @link          http://cakephp.org CakePHP(tm) Project
  * @license       http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php MIT License
  */
-
 namespace Cake\Chronos\Test\DateTime;
 
 use Cake\Chronos\Chronos;
@@ -756,4 +755,71 @@ public function testFromNow($class)
         $result = $interval->format("%y %m %d %H %i %s");
         $this->assertEquals($result, '1 0 6 00 0 51');
     }
+
+    public function diffForHumansProvider()
+    {
+        $now = Chronos::now();
+        return [
+            [$now, $now->addYears(11), '11 years before'],
+            [$now, $now->addYears(1), '1 year before'],
+            [$now, $now->addMonths(11), '11 months before'],
+            [$now, $now->addMonths(1), '1 month before'],
+            [$now, $now->addDays(8), '1 week before'],
+            [$now, $now->addDays(23), '3 weeks before'],
+            [$now, $now->addDays(1), '1 day before'],
+            [$now, $now->addDays(6), '6 days before'],
+            [$now, $now->addHours(1), '1 hour before'],
+            [$now, $now->addHours(5), '5 hours before'],
+            [$now, $now->addHours(23), '23 hours before'],
+            [$now, $now->addMinutes(1), '1 minute before'],
+            [$now, $now->addMinutes(5), '5 minutes before'],
+            [$now, $now->addMinutes(59), '59 minutes before'],
+            [$now, $now->addSeconds(1), '1 second before'],
+            [$now, $now->addSeconds(5), '5 seconds before'],
+            [$now, $now->addSeconds(59), '59 seconds before'],
+
+            [$now, $now->subYears(11), '11 years after'],
+            [$now, $now->subYears(1), '1 year after'],
+            [$now, $now->subMonths(11), '11 months after'],
+            [$now, $now->subMonths(1), '1 month after'],
+            [$now, $now->subDays(8), '1 week after'],
+            [$now, $now->subDays(23), '3 weeks after'],
+            [$now, $now->subDays(1), '1 day after'],
+            [$now, $now->subDays(6), '6 days after'],
+            [$now, $now->subHours(1), '1 hour after'],
+            [$now, $now->subHours(5), '5 hours after'],
+            [$now, $now->subHours(23), '23 hours after'],
+            [$now, $now->subMinutes(1), '1 minute after'],
+            [$now, $now->subMinutes(5), '5 minutes after'],
+            [$now, $now->subMinutes(59), '59 minutes after'],
+            [$now, $now->subSeconds(1), '1 second after'],
+            [$now, $now->subSeconds(5), '5 seconds after'],
+            [$now, $now->subSeconds(59), '59 seconds after'],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider diffForHumansProvider
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testDiffForHumansRelative($now, $date, $expected)
+    {
+        $this->assertSame($expected, $now->diffForHumans($date));
+    }
+
+    public function testDiffForHumansWithNow()
+    {
+        $this->wrapWithTestNow(function () {
+            $this->assertSame('1 second ago', Chronos::now()->subSeconds(1)->diffForHumans());
+            $this->assertSame('1 second from now', Chronos::now()->addSeconds(1)->diffForHumans());
+        });
+    }
+
+    public function testDiffForHumansWithNowAbsolute()
+    {
+        $this->wrapWithTestNow(function () {
+            $this->assertSame('1 second', Chronos::now()->subSeconds(1)->diffForHumans(null, true));
+            $this->assertSame('1 second', Chronos::now()->addSeconds(1)->diffForHumans(null, true));
+        });
+    }
 }