From the WordPress Codex, this is how to enable permalinks in your blog. From your admin dashboard on the left side go to Settings -> Permalinks
In the Settings → Permalinks panel (Options → Permalinks before
WordPress 2.5), you can choose one of the “common” structures or enter
your own in the “Custom structure” field using the structure tags.Please note: You never, ever put your site url in the permalinks slot.
You must use one of the structure tags, or a combination of tags only.