day of the weeks
Hi all,
ok, i was going through likes, hobbies etc. There are also days of the week. in flashcards in front of the days they use"el". e.g, el lunes, el martes etc. doesn't that mean on Monday? When used with the days of the week, the definite article has the special meaning "on."
So if i want to say not on Monday, just Monday do i still use "el"?
Thanks))
6 Answers
In spanish,the days of the week, masculine nouns,determinated by the definite article,masculine,singular and plural el,los, are adverbs:
El miercoles / El miercoles próximo voy a nadar = On Wensday / Next Wensday I go swimming (like an adverb)
Los domingos voy de picnic = On Sundays / Every Sunday I go for a picnic (like an adverb)
But:
Lunes,martes y mircoles son sustantivos = Monday, Tuesday and Wensday are nouns
En castellano,los dias de la semana,sustantivos masculinos,determinados por el articulo definito,masculino,singular y plural el,los son adverbos:
El miercoles / El miercoles próximo voy a nadar = On Wensday / Next Wensday I go swimming. (como un adverbo)
Los domingos voy de picnic = On Sundays / Every Sundays I go for a picnic (como un adverbo)
Pero:
Lunes,martes y mircoles son sustantivos = Monday, Tuesday and Wensday are nouns
If one considers the origins of the names for the days of the week, it is easier to become accustomed to using "el" or "los" in front of them in Spanish. Also keep in mind that the M-F days are "invariable" nouns, which means that the singular and plural forms are spelled the same. Singular or plural forms in Spanish are only denoted by context and which article (el, or los) appears before them.
Monday(s) = the moon days = el lunes or los lunes Wednesday(s) = the wind days = el miercoles or los miercoles Saturday(s) = the satyr days = el sábado or los sábados Sunday(s) = the sun day(s) = el domingo or los domingos
Notice that the "es" endings don't appear in Spanish for Saturday and Sunday. Generally, I don't think it is good practice to think of "literal translations" of words between English and Spanish. It is better just to learn to feel comfortable and feel that you are being logical in the way you express meaning in Spanish.
If you really try to think of "el lunes" to mean "on Monday", then how do you translate in your mind "el martes que viene"? In my mind, it means "the Tuesday that is coming", and I am comfortable with that. And "¿Cuál es la fecha?" "Hoy es el miercoles, 16 de Mayo". Today is the wind day, the 16th of May.
I think I remeber seeing that when you write the noun by itself you have to put the article for example, la policía, el jardín etc. I saw this in an online quiz. In the vocabulary list each term specified the article and the quiz required them to be typed in addition to the word itself. When written in a sentance the quiz required just the word and counted it wrong if I entered the article and the word together. In speaking/writing the articles are often dropped so that you might just write jardín or policía depending on the sentance. You can see that in saying, "hasta lunes" instead of "hasta el lunes".
So the bottom line would be that in a vocabulary list you must specify the article and never write just the word itself, because that is the way it is done en español!
Thank you all! )
Really appreciate it.
Think about the idea behind how you use a day of the week. Many times in English we use just the week day's name meaning on that day. For example: "I'm coming over Monday."
If you say something like "The Wednesday before the 15th." you probably mean on the Wednesday etc.
I think aylino's answer about whether it is a noun or adverb is good if you understand grammatical explanations.
El Lunes translates to on Monday. I believe you do use el for that.
