How To Write Dates in Spanish
Mark your calendar: today’s the day you’ll learn how to write dates, or las fechas, in Spanish! You may want to write an email, book your next holiday to a Spanish-speaking destination, or schedule an event.
Learn how to write dates in Spanish so you can enjoy planning holidays, events, and days out while also making sure that you’ll be there at the right time. Once you understand the core differences between English dates and Spanish dates, you’ll be writing out plans in no time!
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How To Write Dates in Spanish Versus English
Understanding the structural differences between dates in Spanish and dates in English will help you master the calendar faster. One key difference is that Spanish dates use a cardinal number, while English dates use an ordinal number. Cardinal numbers are the original form of a number, such as 1, 2, and 3, while ordinal numbers look like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
Spanish: 5 de marzo
English: March 5th
Another key component of learning how to write dates is understanding their order. Spanish dates are ordered by day, month, and year rather than the English order of month, day, and year.
Spanish: 5 de marzo de 2023
English: March 5, 2023
We explore these differences in more detail below!
You might like: Ordinal Numbers in Spanish: Master 1st to 10th Then 11th to 100th
Days of the Week in Spanish — Los días de la semana
The Spanish calendar looks a little different from the typical English one. Spanish weekdays usually begin on Monday instead of Sunday. Additionally, days of the week in Spanish are not capitalized.
- Monday — lunes
- Tuesday — martes
- Wednesday — miércoles
- Thursday — jueves
- Friday — viernes
- Saturday — sábado
- Sunday — domingo
To refer to a specific day, use the article el, as in el lunes. And to refer to a weekly occurrence, use los, as in los sábados. See the examples below for a better understanding:
Examples:
Me voy el lunes.
I’m leaving on Monday.
Yo juego los sábados.
I play on Saturdays.
You might like: An Easy Guide to Definite and Indefinite Articles in Spanish
Months of the Year — Los meses del año
Just like with the days of the week, months in Spanish are not capitalized.
- January — enero
- February — febrero
- March — marzo
- April — abril
- May — mayo
- June — junio
- July — julio
- August — augusto
- September — septiembre
- October — octubre
- November — noviembre
- December — diciembre
If you want to say “in” a certain month, use en. See the example below:
Example:
Voy a México en junio.
I’m going to Mexico in June.
How To Write Dates in Spanish
Now that you’ve studied the vocabulary, it’s time to put it into the proper format. Keep in mind that dates in Spanish are written as day, month, and year. Just like in English, there are several formats you can use to write dates in Spanish.
Number Version
The number version is the simplest and easiest way to write the date in Spanish. It uses numbers to represent the day, month, and year. This makes it super useful in case you forgot how to say a certain month in Spanish.
Try to remember this form:
DD/MM/YYYY
When writing the current year in Spanish, you can also omit the first two numbers instead of writing out the whole number. So, 2021 would become 21.
Examples:
July 25, 2021 — 25/7/21
February 31, 1977 — 31/2/1977
March 4, 1756 — 4/3/1756
Formal Version
In the formal version, you use numerals to represent the day, but spell out the month. These parts of the date are separated by the word de, which means “of.”
Try and remember this form:
es + el + day + de + month
Examples:
It is July 25. — Es el 25 de junio.
It is January 11. — Es el 11 de enero.
It is February 15. — Es el 15 de febrero.
You may also spell out the numbers:
It is December 17th. — Es el diecisiete de diciembre.
It is May 30th. — Es el treinta de mayo.
It is November 28th. — Es el veintiocho de noviembre.
The First Day of the Month Is Special
Heads up! The first of the month is never written as el uno. Sound more fluent and use el primero instead. Here are some other great examples of how to write dates for the first of the month like a native speaker.
Examples:
It is January 1st. — Es el primero de enero.
It is August 1st. — Es el 1ero de agosto.
It is April 1st. — Es el 1º de abril.
It is March 1st. — Es el 1 de marzo.
How To Add the Year
When using dates from past years it’s important to show which year you are talking about. To add a year, simply add de and then the year. However, when talking about the current year, it’s okay to omit the year (just as you’d do in English).
Try and remember this form:
es + el + day + de + month + de + year
Examples:
It is April 18, 2020. — Es el 18 de abril de 2020.
It is December 27, 1933. — Es el 27 de diciembre de 1933.
It is March 22, 1865. — Es el 22 de marzo de 1865.
Add the Days of the Week
Now that you know how to write dates out in Spanish, you can make them even more specific by adding the day of the week. All you have to do is place the name in front of the date and add a comma.
Examples:
Hoy es lunes, el 9 de marzo.
Today is Monday, March 9th.
Hoy es viernes, el 2 de febrero.
Today is Friday, February 2nd.
Hoy es jueves, el 12 de mayo.
Today is Thursday, May 12th.
Calendar Vocabulary — vocabulario del calendario
Great job mastering how to write dates! You can get even more precise in your time telling skills with this calendar vocab list. Add these words to your sentences to talk about today, tomorrow, yesterday, or even last week.
- date — la fecha
- calendar — el calendario
- today — hoy
- tomorrow — mañana
- yesterday — ayer
- week — la semana
- the weekend — el fin de semana
- next week — la semana que viene
- last week — la semana pasada
- month — el mes
- year — el año
You might like: 50+ Time Expressions in Spanish for Better Conversations
Examples:
Mañana es el cuatro de octubre.
Tomorrow is the fourth of october.
Ayer fue el quince de mayo.
Yesterday was the fifteenth of May.
Hay cuatro semanas en un mes.
There are four weeks in a month.
Useful Phrases Regarding Dates in Spanish
Want to write the date but forgot what it was? No problem! Use these useful Spanish phrases to ask for the date or to add context to your message.
- When is…? — ¿Cuándo es…?
- What day is today? — ¿Qué día es hoy?
- What is today ‘s date? — ¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?
- Today is… — Hoy es…
- My birthday is… — Mi cumpleaños es…
You might like: 50 Simple Spanish Questions to Ask in Your Next Conversation
Examples:
Hoy es mi aniversario.
Today is my anniversary.
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
When is your birthday?
Mi cumpleaños es el 30 de diciembre.
My birthday is December 30th.
Save the Date for Your FREE Spanish Class!
Congratulations! You are now a scheduling master! Keep practicing how to write dates in Spanish with a native speaker through a free trial Spanish class. A certified Spanish teacher will help set you on the right path in your language-learning journey. With enough studying, practice, and determination, you’ll be speaking Spanish like a native in no time!
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