Days and months in Spanish

The date

To say the date in Spanish, say el (the), then the number, followed by de (of) and the month.

For example:

• el ocho de octubre - 8th October

• el dieciséis de mayo - 16th May

To say 'on the first of the month', use the word primero or the word uno.

For example:

• el primero de abril - 1st April

or

• uno de abril - 1st April

When saying or writing the date, use cardinal numbers such as 2, 4 and 30, not ordinal numbers such as 2nd, 4th and 30th.

Use the months below and your knowledge of numbers to say different dates that are important to you.

The date in the present, past and the future

When talking about the date including the day of the week, you do not use el.

For example:

• ¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy? - What is the date today?

• Hoy es lunes, trece de mayo - Today is Monday 13th May.

Days of the week

In Spanish, days of the week and months of the year do not require a capital letter.

When you do not include the day of the week, you do need to use el.

For example:

• Hoy es el treinta de mayo - Today is 30th May.

To ask what the date is tomorrow, you ask:

• ¿Cuál es la fecha de mañana? - What is the date tomorrow?

And you answer:

• Mañana es el veinticinco de enero - Tomorrow is 25th January.

Remember, there are only four numbers with accents in Spanish:

• diecis_é_is - 16

• veintid_ó_s - 22

• veintitr_é_s - 23

• veintis_é_is - 26

Numbers after 30 use y (and).

For example:

• treinta y uno

Numbers in the twenties need an i followed by a number.

For example:

• veint_i_cuatro

Saying when you do activities

To talk about an activity or event that happens on the same day every week, use los.

For example:

• Los lunes juego al tenis - On Mondays I play tennis.

• Los domingos Daniel hace natación - On Sundays Daniel goes swimming.

You can talk about an activity or event that happened on a specific day in the past.

Remember that we use el with a specific day.

For example:

• El jueves pasado, fui al supermercado - Last Thursday, I went to the supermarket.

You can also talk about an activity or event that will happen on a specific day in the future in the same way.

For example:

• El miércoles, mi hermano va a ir al cine - On Wednesday, my brother is going to go to the cinema.

• El lunes que viene, voy a visitar a mis abuelos - Next Monday, I am going to visit my grandparents.

My birthday

To say what date your birthday is in Spanish, follow the same sentence pattern as in English.

For example:

• ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? - When is your birthday?

• Mi cumpleaños es el doce de junio - My birthday is 12 June.

Other people's birthdays

To say the date of someone else’s birthday, you will need to use el cumpleaños de followed by the person.

For example:

• ¿Cuándo es el cumpleaños de tu madre? - When is your mother's birthday?

• El cumpleaños de mi madre es el treinta y uno de enero - My mother's birthday is 31st January.

Find out how much you know about Days and Months in Spanish with this short quiz!