Learn the Days, Months and Seasons in Spanish
A Complete Guide to the Days of the Week, Months and Seasons in Spanish
Do you want to talk about something that is happening next week in Spanish? Or in two months?
Learn the days of the week, months, and seasons in Spanish with our complete guide! Get familiar with vocabulary, expressions, and grammar related to this topic, and test your knowledge with exercises and videos!
Table of Contents
- The Days of the Week in Spanish
1.1 Talking about the Days of the Week in Spanish
1.2 The Origin of the Days of the Week
1.3 How to Talk about the Days of the Week?
1.4 Useful Vocabulary
1.5 Practical Exercise - The Months in Spanish
2.1 Talking about the Months in Spanish
2.2 Abbreviations
2.3 Etymology of the Months in Spanish
2.4 How to Talk about the Months?
2.5 Practical Exercises - The Seasons in Spanish
3.1 Talking about the Seasons in Spanish
3.2 Etymology of the Seasons in Spanish
The Days of the Week in Spanish
Lunes, martes, miércoles… Do you know the days of the week, or los días de la semana, in Spanish? Get to know them by watching our video on our YouTube channel:
Did you know them all? We have listed them again for you below 👇
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
|
lunes |
Monday |
|
martes |
Tuesday |
|
miércoles |
Wednesday |
|
jueves |
Thursday |
|
viernes |
Friday |
|
sábado |
Saturday |
|
domingo |
Sunday |
Note:
You can abbreviate the Spanish days of the week. There are two options:
- Single letter abbreviations are: L, M, X, J, V, S, D. As you can see, they all use the first letter of the word they stand for, except for miércoles. We use an X for miércoles to avoid confusion with martes.
- Two-letter abbreviations are: Lu, Ma, Mi, Ju, Vi, Sa, Do. It’s also common to use these for the days of the week in Spanish.
Talking about the Days of the Week in Spanish
- In Spanish, unlike English, we don’t capitalize the days of the week.
No tengo que trabajar el lunes.
– I don’t have to work on Monday.
- The days of the week are all masculine, which means you have to use masculine articles – el, los, un and algunos – and masculine adjectives.
El domingo pasado fue el cumpleaños de Irene.
– Last Sunday was Irene’s birthday.
- They have the same form in singular and plural. As they do not change, all you have to do is to change the article:
Juego al tenis el miércoles. – I play tennis on Wednesday.
Juego al tenis los miércoles. – I play tennis on Wednesdays.
- If you want to say “every Wednesday”, you can use todos los miércoles or los miércoles.
Juego al tenis todos los miércoles. – I play tennis every Wednesday.
Juego al tenis los miércoles. – I play tennis every Wednesday.
The Origin of the Days of the Week
As you can see, the days of the week in Spanish are very different from the ones in English. This is because Spanish days come from the Greco-Roman tradition. Sábado is the only exception to this, as it derives from the Hebrew word Sabbat. Discover their origins with these interactive flashcards:
La luna
the moon
Júpiter
jupiter
Marte
mars
Venus
venus
Dominus
lord in Latin
Mercurio
mercury
Sabat
hebrew word for rest
How to Talk about the Days of the Week?
Read the following conversation:
- Ana: ¿Qué día es hoy? - What day is today?
- Juan: Hoy es viernes. - Today is Friday.
- Ana: ¿En serio? Pensaba que hoy era jueves. ¡Ya es fin de semana! ¡Yuju!- Really? I thought it was Thursday. The weekend is here! Yay!
Useful Vocabulary
We made a list of useful vocabulary related to the days of the week in Spanish:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
|
el día |
the day |
|
el fin de semana |
the weekend |
|
ahora |
now |
|
este jueves |
this Thursday |
|
el próximo viernes |
next Friday |
|
el viernes que viene |
next Friday |
|
pasado |
last (the day before) |
|
pronto |
soon |
|
temprano |
early |
|
tarde |
late |
|
más temprano |
earlier |
|
más tarde |
later |
|
hasta el lunes |
until Monday |
|
antes del miércoles |
before Wednesday |
|
después del miércoles |
after Wednesday |
|
desde el domingo |
since Sunday |
|
algunos días |
some days |
|
todo el día |
all day |
|
todos los días |
everyday |
|
cada sábado |
every Saturday |
|
el sábado |
|
|
el sábado por la mañana |
Saturday morning |
|
mañana por la tarde |
tomorrow afternoon |
|
mañana por la tarde |
tomorrow evening |
|
mañana por la noche |
tomorrow night |
|
pasado mañana |
the day after tomorrow |
|
en dos/tres/cuatro/etc. días |
in two/three/four/etc. days |
Still not sure you will remember the days of the week in Spanish? Try to learn them by heart with this catchy children’s song:
✏️ Test Your Knowledge
After learning the days of the week in Spanish, the most logical next step is to learn the months or los meses! Unlike the days of the week, the months in Spanish, English, and other languages are quite similar. Take a look at the following vocabulary video:
| 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 |
Note:
Unlike English, the months of the year are not capitalized in Spanish, just like the days of the week.
Mi cumpleaños es en marzo. – My birthday is in March.
Talking about the Months in Spanish
Want to learn more?
When talking about dates in Spanish, it is important to know how to write the numbers. Take a look at our post about the Numbers in Spanish before continuing.
- In English, the month can be said before or after the day. In Spanish it's not that flexible: the month always comes after the day.
Hoy es cinco de julio. – Today is the 5th of July / Today is July 5th.
- In both languages, the year comes after the month. In Spanish, you can write the date using de or del before the year.
5 de julio de 2020 July 5, 2020
5 de julio del 2020 July 5, 2020
- When writing dates using only numerals, the day comes first in Spanish, while the month usually comes first in English.
In Spanish: 05/07/2020 = DD/MM/YYYY
In English: 07/05/2020 = MM/DD/YYYY
Note:
Three months have adjective forms: abrileño (referring to April), marzal (referring to March), and agosteño (referring to August).
Las lluvias marzales de nuestro país son persistentes. – The March rains in our country are persistent.
We mostly use them in literature to describe phenomena that happen in those months. If you want to refer to another month, you can just use de + month.
Abbreviations
Just like with the days, you can also abbreviate the months:
- enero - ene.
- febrero - feb.
- marzo - mar.
- abril - abr.
- mayo - may.
- junio - jun.
- julio - jul.
- agosto - ago.
- septiembre - set.
- octubre - oct.
- noviembre - nov.
- diciembre - dic.
Etymology of the Names of the Months in Spanish
The names of the months in Spanish derive from Latin. If etymology tickles your fancy, you can learn more with these interactive flashcards:
>Janus
Roman god and guardian of doors and gates
>aprilis
When flowers bloom
>Julius Caesar
Roman general
>Octo
Number eight in Latin
>februum
A feast of purification was held at this time
>Maia
Roman earth goddess
>Augustus Caesar
First Roman emperor
>Novem
Number nine in Latin
>Martius
Mars
>Juno
Goddess married to Jupiter
>septem
Number seven in Latin
>decem
Number ten in Latin
How to Talk about the Months?
Read the following conversation:
- Ana: ¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy? - What’s today’s date?
- Juan: Hoy es tres de febrero. - Today is February 3rd.
✏️ Test Your Knowledge
Seasons of the Year
The last topic we will tackle in this blog post are the seasons of the year, or in Spanish las estaciones del año.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
|
primavera |
spring |
|
verano |
summer |
|
otoño |
fall |
|
invierno |
winter |
Note:
There is another word for summer, el estío, which is mostly used in literary texts.
As you already know, when it’s summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere. Most tropical regions in the world have only two main seasons:
la estación lluviosa – rainy season or wet season, which can also be called invierno
la estación seca – dry season, which can also be called verano
Talking about the Seasons in Spanish
- In Spanish, you almost always use the definite or indefinite article when talking about the seasons of the year, unlike English, where this is often omitted.
El verano es muy seco en Madrid. – Summer is very dry in Madrid.
No me gusta el invierno. – I don’t like winter.
- The definite article can be omitted after the verb SER, or the prepositions de or en.
En verano vamos a Francia. – During the summer we go to France.
Los días de invierno son largos. – Winter days are long.
Note:
Forming adjectives
In general, you can create adjectives by combining the name of the season with the preposition de. The following adjectives also exist:
invernal – wintry
primaveral – springlike
veraniego – summery
otoñal – autumnal
El esquí es una actividad invernal. – Skiing is a wintry activity.
Hoy es un día otoñal un poco fresco. – Today is a slightly cool autumnal day.
Verano also has a verb form, VERANEAR, which means ‘to spend the summer in a place where you don’t normally live’.
The Origin of the Seasons' Names in Spanish
Just as the days or the months’ names, the names of the seasons in Spanish also derive from Latin:
- Invierno: comes from hibernum, which is the root of 'hibernate'.
- Primavera: is related to primera (first) and ver (to see), because it is the time of year when it is possible to first see new life
- Verano: is derived from veranum, which in Latin could refer to either spring or summer.
- Otoño: comes from autumnus, which you can also see in the English word autumn.
Hopefully, you are now completely familiar with the days of the week, the months and the seasons in Spanish!
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