A1 vocabulary guide
Spanish days and months: put plans on the calendar
Calendar language is small but high-value: it helps you book a table, understand opening hours and arrange to meet. Spanish weekday and month names are usually lowercase, and the article often does quiet work when you mean a repeated day or a specific date.
Start with the pattern
Words are easier to keep when they make sense.
Days of the week are lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado and domingo. They are lowercase except at the beginning of a sentence. To describe a regular event, use los lunes (on Mondays); for one particular Monday, el lunes can mean on Monday.
Months are also lowercase: enero through diciembre. Dates commonly use el + number + de + month: el 14 de mayo. The first day of a month is often el primero. In Spain, a written numeric date commonly places day before month, so 04/06 usually means 4 June, not April 6.
Hear it in a sentence
Examples in everyday Spanish
La clase es el miércoles a las seis.
The class is on Wednesday at six.
Los sábados solemos ir al mercado.
We usually go to the market on Saturdays.
Los + weekday marks a recurring event.
Mi cita es el 1 de octubre.
My appointment is on 1 October.
El primero de octubre is also common for the first day.
¿Tienes libre el jueves que viene?
Are you free next Thursday?
Listen for the local detail
A note on Spanish in Spain
- For an unambiguous date in writing, spelling out the month is helpful across regions. Numeric date conventions differ internationally.
- The date uses the cardinal number after the first: el dos de mayo, but el primero de mayo is common for the first.
Look out for
Common mistakes, made clearer
Avoid
Escribo Lunes y Enero con capitals in the middle of a Spanish sentence.
Use / understand
lunes y enero.
Weekdays and months are lowercase in Spanish.
Avoid
Trabajo el lunes cuando you mean every Monday.
Use / understand
Trabajo los lunes.
The plural article often marks a repeated weekly routine.
Avoid
El mayo 4.
Use / understand
El 4 de mayo.
Spanish date order places the day before the month.
Five quick checks
Try it before you peek.
- 01
Translate: “I have Spanish on Tuesdays.”
Reveal answer and explanation
Tengo español los martes.
Los + plural weekday expresses a recurring event.
- 02
Which month is octubre?
Reveal answer and explanation
October.
Octubre is the tenth month.
- 03
Write “on 12 March” in a date phrase.
Reveal answer and explanation
El 12 de marzo.
Use el + day + de + lowercase month.
- 04
Correct the capitalisation: “Nos vemos el Viernes.”
Reveal answer and explanation
Nos vemos el viernes.
Weekday names are lowercase mid-sentence.
- 05
How do you ask “What date is it today?”
Reveal answer and explanation
¿A qué fecha estamos? / ¿Qué fecha es hoy?
Both are understandable; ¿Qué fecha es hoy? is a straightforward option.
Still wondering
Questions about spanish days and months: put plans on the calendar
Are weekday names masculine or feminine?
They are generally masculine: el lunes, los viernes. Saturday and Sunday have plural forms sábados and domingos; the other weekday names do not change form.
Do Spanish months begin with a capital letter?
No, not in ordinary running text. Write enero, abril and noviembre in lowercase unless they begin a sentence.
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