Learn the Days, Months and Seasons in Spanish
A Complete Guide to the Days of the Week, Months and Seasons
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 more 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 último domingo del mes fue inusualmente cálido.
– The last Sunday of the month was unusually warm.
- 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 cada miércoles.
Juego al tenis todos los miércoles. – I play tennis every Wednesday.
Juego al tenis cada 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. El sábado is the only exception to this, as it derives from the Hebrew word Sabat. Discover their origins in the following table:
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. ¡Eso significa que casi es fin de semana! - Really? I thought it was Thursday. That means it’s almost the weekend!
Useful Vocabulary
We made a list of other 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? Try to memorize them with this short poem:
Los días de la semana son siete nada más.
There are only seven days of the week.
Si aprendes este poema, ¡los recordarás!
If you learn this poem, you’ll remember them!
El lunes hace viento.
On Monday it’s windy.
El martes, ¡qué calor!
On Tuesday it’s so hot!
El miércoles hace fresco.
On Wednesday it’s chilly.
El jueves sale el sol.
On Thursday the sun comes out.
El viernes llueve a veces,
On Friday it rains sometimes,
El sábado normalmente no.
On Saturday it normally does not.
El domingo hay arcoíris,
On Sunday there’s a rainbow,
Y vamos al parque tú y yo.
And you and I are going to the park.
✏️ Test Your Knowledge
After learning the days of the week in Spanish, a logical next step is to learn the months or los meses! Unlike the days of the week, the months in Spanish and English are quite similar. Take a look at the following table:
| 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 you cannot choose: 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. Del is considered more formal.
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 Spain: 05/07/2020 = DD/MM/YYYY
In the US: 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 - enero
- febrero - feb.
- marzo - marzo
- abril - abr.
- mayo - mayo
- junio - jun.
- julio - jul.
- agosto - agosto
- septiembre - set.
- octubre - oct.
- noviembre - nov.
- diciembre - dic.
Etymology of the Months in Spanish
The Spanish names of the months are derived from Latin:
>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: ¿Qué fecha es 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 blogpost are the seasons, or las estaciones.
| 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, unlike English, where this is often omitted.
El verano se acerca. – Summer is coming.
No me gustan los inviernos. – I don’t like winters.
- The definite article can be omitted after SER, de or en.
En verano vamos a Francia. – During the summer we go to France.
Note:
Forming adjectives
In general, you can create adjectives by combining the name of the season with de. The following adjectives also exist:
invernal – winter
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 autumn day.
Verano also has a verb form, veranear, which means to spend the summer away from home.
The Origin of the Seasons in Spanish
Just as the days or the months of the year, the names of the seasons in Spanish also derive from Latin:
- Invierno: comes from hibernum, which is the root of to 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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