How to decrement a date or time value using the DATE_SUB() function?

DATE_SUB(date, INTERVAL expr unit) is a MySQL built-in function that decrements a date or time value with a given interval. For example:

SELECT DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL 1 DAY);
  -- +----------------------------------------+
  -- | DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL 1 DAY) |
  -- +----------------------------------------+
  -- | 2022-02-28                             |
  -- +----------------------------------------+

SELECT DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL '1-1' YEAR_MONTH);
  -- +---------------------------------------------------+
  -- | DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL '1-1' YEAR_MONTH) |
  -- +---------------------------------------------------+
  -- | 2021-02-01                                        |
  -- +---------------------------------------------------+

SELECT DATE_SUB('2022-03-01 23:59:59', INTERVAL 1 SECOND);
  -- +----------------------------------------------------+
  -- | DATE_SUB('2022-03-01 23:59:59', INTERVAL 1 SECOND) |
  -- +----------------------------------------------------+
  -- | 2022-03-01 23:59:58                                |
  -- +----------------------------------------------------+

SELECT DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL '1 2' DAY_HOUR);
  -- +-------------------------------------------------+
  -- | DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL '1 2' DAY_HOUR) |
  -- +-------------------------------------------------+
  -- | 2022-02-27 22:00:00                             |
  -- +-------------------------------------------------+

SELECT DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL '-1.100' SECOND_MICROSECOND);
  -- +--------------------------------------------------------------+
  -- | DATE_SUB('2022-03-01', INTERVAL '-1.100' SECOND_MICROSECOND) |
  -- +--------------------------------------------------------------+
  -- | 2022-03-01 00:00:01.100000                                   |
  -- +--------------------------------------------------------------+

Reference information of the DATE_SUB() function:

DATE_SUB(date, INTERVAL expr unit): moddate
  Performs date and time subtraction operation. The date argument specifies the
  starting date or datetime value. expr is an expression specifying the
  interval value to be subtracted or added from the starting date. expr is
  evaluated as a string; it may start with a - for negative intervals.
  unit is a keyword indicating the units in which the expression should be
  interpreted.

Arguments, return value and availability:
  date: Required. The starting date and time.
  expr: Required. The date or time interval.
  unit: Required. The date or time interval unit keyword.
  moddate: Return value. The decremented date and time.
  Available since MySQL 4.0.

Date or time interval unit keywords:
  Unit keyword         Examples
  ------------------   --------
  MICROSECOND          100, -100
  SECOND               100, -100
  MINUTE               100, -100
  HOUR                 100, -100
  DAY                  100, -100
  WEEK                 100, -100
  MONTH                100, -100
  QUARTER              100, -100
  YEAR                 100, -100
  SECOND_MICROSECOND   '10.100', '-10.100'
  MINUTE_MICROSECOND   '10:10.100', '-10:10.100'
  MINUTE_SECOND        '10.10', '-10.10'
  HOUR_MICROSECOND     '10:10:10.100', '-10:10:10.100'
  HOUR_SECOND          '10:10.10', '-10:10.10'
  HOUR_MINUTE          '10.10', '-10.10'
  DAY_MICROSECOND      '100 10:10:10.100', '-100 10:10:10.100'
  DAY_SECOND           '100 10:10:10', '-100 10:10:10'
  DAY_MINUTE           '100 10:10', '-100 10:10'
  DAY_HOUR             '100 10', '-100 10'
  YEAR_MONTH           '100-100', '-100-100'

Related MySQL functions:

• SUBDATE() - Synonym for DATE_SUB()
• DATE_ADD() - Adding Date/Time Interval

⇒ DAY() - Synonym for DAYOFMONTH()

⇐ DATE_FORMAT() - Formatting Date

⇑ MySQL Functions on Date and Time

⇑⇑ MySQL Function References