Dates

Understanding Numbers in Dates

  • It’s vital to understand how to write and pronounce numbers in Spanish, particularly those from one to thirty-one, to be able to express calendar dates accurately.
  • The numbers from 1-10 in Spanish are: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.
  • From 11-20, they are: once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte.
  • The numbers from 21-31 are a mixture of the base number (veinte) and the unit number, for example: veintiuno (21), veintidós (22), and so forth until treinta (30), then treinta y uno (31).

The Months of the Year

  • Learning the names of the 12 months in Spanish is central to understanding and expressing dates correctly:
    • Enero (January), Febrero (February), Marzo (March), Abril (April), Mayo (May), Junio (June), Julio (July), Agosto (August), Septiembre (September), Octubre (October), Noviembre (November), Diciembre (December).

Days of the Week

  • Familiarity with the days of the week can be helpful in speaking or writing about dates in Spanish. The days are:
    • Lunes (Monday), Martes (Tuesday), Miércoles (Wednesday), Jueves (Thursday), Viernes (Friday), Sábado (Saturday), Domingo (Sunday).

The Spanish Date Format

  • In Spanish, the format for dates is day/month/year, not month/day/year as in English. For example, the 5th of March 2021 would be written as 5/3/2021 or 5 de marzo de 2021.
  • When stating the date, Spanish speakers typically use the format “{day} de {month} de {year}”.
  • The word for ‘of’ or ‘from’ (de) is used twice in the sentence. For instance, 6th June would be ‘seis de junio’.
  • Note that unlike in English, the day and month are not capitalised unless they start the sentence.

Key Phrases for Dates

  • Familiarise yourself with key phrases related to dates:
    • “¿Qué fecha es hoy?” (What’s today’s date?)
    • “Hoy es…” (Today is…)
    • “Mañana será…” (Tomorrow will be…)
    • “Ayer fue…” (Yesterday was…)

Writing Years

  • Writing years can be tricky. Remember, for years in the 2000s, you say dos mil and then the rest of the number like normal. For example, 2020 is “dos mil veinte”.
  • Centuries are said like normal numbers. For example, 1900 would be “mil novecientos”.