Talk About Dates in Spanish
Vocabulary
Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!
Months in Spanish
In these lessons, you learn the twelve months of the year 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 |
Numbers from Six to Twelve
In these lessons, you also learn the numbers from six to twelve, as well as some useful words for talking about dates in Spanish!
Cardinal Numbers vs. Ordinal Numbers
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). 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, or el primero. Check out these examples:
| examples |
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For all other dates besides the first of the month, cardinal numbers are used!
Dates in Spanish
The conventions for talking about dates are a bit different in English and Spanish. In Spanish dates, the month comes after the day. In English dates, 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.Words for Talking about Dates
Here are some of the other words for talking about dates in Spanish that you learn in these lesson!
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| cuál | which/what |
| cuándo | when |
| el cumpleaños | birthday |
| en | in |
| la fecha | date |
| la fecha de nacimiento | date of birth |
| hoy | today |
| el mes | month |
Phrases
Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!
Qué vs Cuál
- Quéand cuálare question words that can both be translated as what. So what's the difference between these two words?! One quick rule of thumb is to remember that qué questions are often used to ask for definitions or meanings, and cuál questions are often used to ask for personal/general information.
- However, as with many things in life, there are exceptions to these rules! Qué questions are also generally used in questions that follow the formula Question Word + Noun + Verb. Let's take a look at some examples!
Quiz Yourself!
Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!
Conversation in Spanish
Amazing! Let's put the vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.
Want to learn more about how to talk about dates in Spanish? Check out the following articles!
