The Months in Spanish
It's time to learn some very important words in Spanish: the names of the months! You’re going to need to know these twelve words to make appointments, talk about birthdays and holidays, fill out forms, and to simply say what the date is. So, without further ado, here are the names of los meses(the months) in Spanish.
| 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 |
The conventions for talking about dates are a bit different in English and Spanish. In Spanish the month comes after the day. In English the month can come before or after the day.
Hoy es el cuatro de octubre. Hoy es octubre el cuatro. Today is the fourth of October. Today is October fourth.In both languages, the year usually comes after the month and day, whatever order they're in. Let’s take a look at how to write dates in each language!
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| 2 de marzo | March 2 |
| 2 de marzo de 2017 | March 2, 2017 |
| 2 de marzo del 2017 | March 2, 2017 |
| 02/03/2017 | 03/02/2017 |
| dos de marzo de dos mil diecisiete | March second two thousand seventeen |
Differences When Talking About Dates in Spanish
Here are a couple of important things to note about the dates in the above table.
De vs. Del
In Spanish you can write the date using de or del before the year. Using del is usually considered a bit more formal.
- 2 de marzo de 2017
- 2 de marzo del 2017
Writing the Date
When writing dates using only numerals, the day comes first in Spanish, while the month usually comes first in English . It’s really important to remember this when filling out customs or tax forms!
- Spanish: 02/03/2017 = DD/MM/YYYY
- English: 03/02/2017 = MM/DD/YYYY
Cardinals vs. Ordinals
In Spanish cardinal numbers are normally used to talk about dates, while in English ordinal numbers are used. Cardinal numbers are counting numbers like uno, dos, tres(one, two, three) while ordinal numbers are numbers that put things in order, like primero, segundo, tercero(first, second, third). Check out these examples:
| examples |
|---|
Although cardinal numbers are normally used for dates in Spanish, it’s common to hear an ordinal number used to talk about the first of the month, but only in Latin America!
Latin American Spanish
Peninsular Spanish
For all other dates, cardinal numbers are used in both Latin America and Spain!
Looking for more articles about learning Spanish? Take a look at these tips to help you master the language!
