Working with dates and queries

I am attempting to do a query for a specific month based of a response for a
web site using php as the engine.
The syntax of the sql is simple

"SELECT * FROM table WHERE MONTH(fieldname)=08;"

note:
the fieldname is set to be a date field.

Is this correct postgre syntax to find a date by month?

If so: the fieldname I used was "date" since it is a researved word will
this cause problems?
If not what is the correct syntax?

Thanks in advance