Days, Months, and Dates (AQA A-Level Spanish): Revision Notes
Days, Months, and Dates
Learning to talk about days, months, and dates is essential for everyday conversations in Spanish. This topic helps you arrange meetings, discuss birthdays, and understand when events happen. The good news is that once you learn the vocabulary and a few simple rules, you'll be able to express any date with confidence.
Days of the week
In Spanish, the days of the week (los días de la semana) are straightforward to learn. An important rule to remember is that unlike English, Spanish days of the week do not use capital letters unless they appear at the start of a sentence.
Vocabulary: Days of the week
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| lunes | Monday |
| martes | Tuesday |
| miércoles | Wednesday |
| jueves | Thursday |
| viernes | Friday |
| sábado | Saturday |
| domingo | Sunday |
Notice how miércoles has an accent on the first 'e'. This is important for correct pronunciation and spelling - the stress falls on the second syllable (mi-ÉR-co-les).
Related time vocabulary
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| hoy | today |
| mañana | tomorrow |
| ayer | yesterday |
| la semana | the week |
Using days in sentences
When you want to say what day it is or refer to a specific day, you use the structure "es" followed by the day. Here are some examples showing different tenses:
Using Days in Different Tenses
Present tense:
- Hoy es martes. (Today is Tuesday.)
- Mañana es miércoles. (Tomorrow is Wednesday.)
Past tense:
- Ayer fue lunes. (Yesterday was Monday.)
- El lunes fue mi cumpleaños. (Monday was my birthday.)
Future/general statements:
- Mañana es jueves. (Tomorrow is Thursday.)
- El viernes voy al cine. (On Friday I'm going to the cinema.)
Asking about days
To ask what day it is, use the question: ¿Qué día es hoy? (What day is today?)
You can respond simply with: Hoy es [day].
Months of the year
The months in Spanish (los meses del año) follow a similar pattern to English in pronunciation, which makes them easier to remember. Like days of the week, months are only capitalised at the beginning of a sentence. This is different from English, where months always have capital letters.
Vocabulary: Months of the year
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| enero | January |
| febrero | February |
| marzo | March |
| abril | April |
| mayo | May |
| junio | June |
| julio | July |
| agosto | August |
| septiembre | September |
| octubre | October |
| noviembre | November |
| diciembre | December |
Pronunciation tips
- enero (eh-NEH-roh) - stress on the second syllable
- febrero (feh-BREH-roh) - the first 'r' is a single tap
- julio (HOO-lee-oh) - the 'j' sounds like an English 'h'
- octubre (ok-TOO-breh) - stress on the second syllable
The Spanish 'j' in julio sounds like the 'h' in "hello" but with more friction at the back of your throat. Practice making this sound to improve your pronunciation of months like junio and julio.
Using months in context
Months typically appear when discussing dates, birthdays, or events. Here are examples in different contexts:
Talking about birthdays:
- Mi cumpleaños es en octubre. (My birthday is in October.)
- Su cumpleaños es en julio. (His/her birthday is in July.)
Describing events:
- Voy de vacaciones en agosto. (I'm going on holiday in August.)
- Las clases empiezan en septiembre. (Classes start in September.)
Comparing months:
- Enero es el mes más frío. (January is the coldest month.)
- Prefiero mayo porque hace buen tiempo. (I prefer May because the weather is nice.)
Expressing dates
When talking about dates in Spanish, you need to understand how to combine numbers with months. Spanish uses cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3) for dates, which is different from English where we use ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd).
The structure of dates
The standard pattern for expressing a date is:
el + [cardinal number] + de + [month]
This is the most important formula to remember when working with dates in Spanish. The word "de" is essential and must not be forgotten.
For example:
- el dos de julio (the 2nd of July)
- el veinte de mayo (the 20th of May)
- el treinta de marzo (the 30th of March)
The exception: The first of the month
The only date that uses an ordinal number is the first of the month. You have two options:
- el primero de marzo (the first of March)
- el uno de marzo (the first of March)
Both are correct, though "el primero" is more common in everyday speech.
Vocabulary: Date expressions
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| la fecha | the date |
| el cumpleaños | the birthday |
| el día | the day |
| el mes | the month |
| el año | the year |
| ¿cuándo? | when? |
Asking and answering about dates
¿Qué fecha es hoy? (What date is today?)
To respond, you include the day of the week as well:
- Hoy es lunes, el veinte de mayo. (Today is Monday, the 20th of May.)
- Hoy es viernes, el primero de diciembre. (Today is Friday, the 1st of December.)
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? (When is your birthday?)
Answering Birthday Questions
When someone asks about your birthday, you respond using the structure:
- Mi cumpleaños es el dos de julio. (My birthday is the 2nd of July.)
- Mi cumpleaños es el primero de septiembre. (My birthday is the 1st of September.)
- Mi cumpleaños es el veintiocho de octubre. (My birthday is the 28th of October.)
Notice how you always use "Mi cumpleaños es el..." followed by the date structure.
Writing full dates with years
When you need to include the year, the pattern extends to:
el + [day number] + de + [month] + de + [year]
Examples:
- el trece de diciembre de mil novecientos setenta y ocho (13th December 1978)
- el veintiuno de julio del dos mil dieciséis (21st July 2016)
Note that "de" changes to "del" (de + el) when the year starts with "el dos mil" (the year 2000s). This is a contraction that happens in Spanish when de is followed by el.
Practice examples with dates
Describing birthdays:
- Su cumpleaños es el treinta de marzo. (His/her birthday is the 30th of March.)
- Su cumpleaños es el veintinueve de diciembre. (His/her birthday is the 29th of December.)
- Su cumpleaños es el veintisiete de agosto. (His/her birthday is the 27th of August.)
- Su cumpleaños es el dieciséis de abril. (His/her birthday is the 16th of April.)
Different contexts:
- La reunión es el quince de junio. (The meeting is on the 15th of June.)
- El examen es el diez de noviembre. (The exam is on the 10th of November.)
- Las vacaciones empiezan el cinco de agosto. (The holidays start on the 5th of August.)
Telling the time (basic introduction)
While the main focus is on dates, telling the time often comes up in similar contexts. The basic structure uses "Son las" for most hours and "Es la" for one o'clock only.
Basic time expressions
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Son las cinco. | It's five o'clock. |
| Son las diez. | It's ten o'clock. |
| Es la una. | It's one o'clock. |
| A las cinco | At five o'clock |
Telling Time with Minutes
- Son las tres y cinco. (It's 3:05 / five past three.)
- Son las tres y cuarto. (It's 3:15 / quarter past three.)
- Son las tres y media. (It's 3:30 / half past three.)
- Son las cuatro menos cuarto. (It's 3:45 / quarter to four.)
- Son las cuatro menos cinco. (It's 3:55 / five to four.)
Notice how "y" means "past" (adding minutes) and "menos" means "to" (subtracting minutes from the next hour).
Ordinal numbers (brief reference)
Ordinal numbers (primero, segundo, tercero) are generally NOT used for dates, except for "el primero" (the first). However, they are used in other contexts:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| primero | first |
| segundo | second |
| tercero | third |
"Primero" and "tercero" change to "primer" and "tercer" when they come before a masculine singular noun.
Example:
- el primer día (the first day)
- el tercer mes (the third month)
Common mistakes and tips
Mistake 1: Using capital letters
❌ Hoy es Lunes, el tres de Marzo.
✓ Hoy es lunes, el tres de marzo.
Remember that days and months only take capitals at the start of a sentence.
Mistake 2: Using ordinal numbers for dates
❌ Mi cumpleaños es el tercero de mayo.
✓ Mi cumpleaños es el tres de mayo.
Use cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3) not ordinals (1st, 2nd, 3rd), except for "el primero".
Mistake 3: Forgetting "de" between elements
❌ Mi cumpleaños es el dos julio.
✓ Mi cumpleaños es el dos de julio.
Always include "de" between the day number and the month.
Mistake 4: Wrong verb for one o'clock
❌ Son la una.
✓ Es la una.
Use "es" (singular) for one o'clock, but "son" (plural) for all other hours.
Tip for remembering days: Think of "lunes" (moon-day/Monday) and link each day to its English equivalent. Many Spanish days come from Roman gods, just like in English.
Tip for pronunciation: Spanish months are similar to English. Try saying them with a Spanish accent: "enero" sounds like "January" but with Spanish vowel sounds.
Key Points to Remember:
- Days of the week and months do not use capital letters in Spanish (unless at the start of a sentence)
- Use cardinal numbers (dos, tres, cuatro) for dates, NOT ordinals, except for "el primero" (the first)
- The date structure is: el + number + de + month (e.g., el veinte de mayo)
- To ask "What day is it?" say ¿Qué día es hoy? and to ask "What's the date?" say ¿Qué fecha es hoy?
- When giving the full date, include the day of the week: Hoy es lunes, el veinte de mayo