diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_day_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_day_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..524d69531
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_day_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1 day
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_days_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_days_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a3ccfece8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_days_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+${days} days
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_hour_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_hour_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5be7fa748
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_hour_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1 hour
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_hours_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_hours_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..90ff70cf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_hours_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+${hours} hours
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_minute_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_minute_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac6602da2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_minute_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1 minute
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_minutes_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_minutes_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86d6099a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_minutes_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+${minutes} minutes
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_second_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_second_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df3fbee70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_second_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1 second
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_seconds_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_seconds_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d3f79ec2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/template-config/src/main/resources/templates/en_US/general/duration_seconds_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+${seconds} seconds
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/java/dev/sheldan/abstracto/templating/methods/DurationMethod.java b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/java/dev/sheldan/abstracto/templating/methods/DurationMethod.java
index f5604f0f7..4bf8c3454 100644
--- a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/java/dev/sheldan/abstracto/templating/methods/DurationMethod.java
+++ b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/java/dev/sheldan/abstracto/templating/methods/DurationMethod.java
@@ -41,36 +41,17 @@ public class DurationMethod implements TemplateMethodModelEx {
         Duration duration = (Duration) wrappedObject;
         StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
         // upgrading to java 9 makes this nicer
-        // todo refactor to use a single template, instead of multiple ones
+        HashMap<String, Object> parameters = new HashMap<>();
         long days = duration.toDays();
-        if(days > 0) {
-            stringBuilder.append(service.renderTemplate("day", getParam(days)));
-        }
+        parameters.put("days", days);
         long hours = duration.toHours() % 24;
-        if(hours > 0) {
-            stringBuilder.append(service.renderTemplate("hour", getParam(hours)));
-        }
+        parameters.put("hours", hours);
         long minutes = duration.toMinutes() % 60;
-        if(minutes > 0) {
-            stringBuilder.append(service.renderTemplate("minute", getParam(minutes)));
-        }
+        parameters.put("minutes", minutes);
 
         long seconds = duration.get(ChronoUnit.SECONDS) % 60;
-        if(seconds > 0) {
-            stringBuilder.append(service.renderTemplate("second", getParam(seconds)));
-        }
+        parameters.put("seconds", seconds);
 
-        return stringBuilder.toString();
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Creates the parameter passed to the template for rendering the single time unit template.
-     * @param value
-     * @return
-     */
-    private HashMap<String, Object> getParam(Long value) {
-        HashMap<String, Object> params = new HashMap<>();
-        params.put("amount", value);
-        return params;
+        return service.renderTemplateWithMap("duration_formatting", parameters);
     }
 }
diff --git a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/day_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/day_en_US.ftl
deleted file mode 100644
index ed1bdeaf5..000000000
--- a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/day_en_US.ftl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<#if amount gt 1>${amount} days<#else>1 day</#if>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/duration_formatting_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/duration_formatting_en_US.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1b2241108
--- /dev/null
+++ b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/duration_formatting_en_US.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<#if days gt 1><#include "duration_days"><#elseif days = 1><#include "duration_day"></#if> <#if hours gt 1><#include "duration_hours"><#elseif hours = 1><#include "duration_hour"></#if> <#if minutes gt 1><#include "duration_minutes"><#elseif minutes = 1><#include "duration_minute"></#if> <#if seconds gt 1><#include "duration_seconds"><#elseif seconds = 1><#include "duration_second"></#if>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/hour_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/hour_en_US.ftl
deleted file mode 100644
index 962e4abe0..000000000
--- a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/hour_en_US.ftl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<#if amount gt 1>${amount} hours<#else>1 hour</#if>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/minute_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/minute_en_US.ftl
deleted file mode 100644
index 129688f52..000000000
--- a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/minute_en_US.ftl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<#if amount gt 1>${amount} minutes<#else>1 minute</#if>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/second_en_US.ftl b/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/second_en_US.ftl
deleted file mode 100644
index 62745b903..000000000
--- a/abstracto-application/templating/templating-impl/src/main/resources/templates/embeds/builtins/second_en_US.ftl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<#if amount gt 1>${amount} seconds<#else>1 second</#if>
\ No newline at end of file