Learn the Spanish Days of the Week: Pronunciation and Memory Tricks
What’s the difference between martes and miércoles in Spanish? If you still struggle with this answer, then you are in the right place. The seven most common words in Spanish are—you guessed it!—the days of the week.
Keep scrolling to learn how to pronounce the days and use them in sentences. If a boost in memory power is what you need, we share a proven technique for you to remember new vocabulary.
¡Vamos!
Let’s go!
Days of the Week in Spanish
| English | Spanish |
| Monday | lunes |
| Tuesday | martes |
| Wednesday | miércoles |
| Thursday | jueves |
| Friday | viernes |
| Saturday | sábado |
| Sunday | domingo |
Listen in on the native Spanish pronunciation of each day:
lunes
martes
miércoles
jueves
viernes
sábado
domingo
Learn more: A Complete Spanish Pronunciation Guide for Beginners
Download FREE Spanish Days of the Week Calendar!
Download your FREE calendar for you to print and use at home. I hope you enjoy them!
Spanish Days of the Week: Four Rules of Usage
In order to use the Spanish days of the week in your conversations, it’s important to remember 4 important rules of usage:
1. Days of the week are not capitalized in Spanish
No, the chart up top isn’t full of typos! You don’t capitalize them unless it starts a sentence. This rule not only applies to Spanish days of the week, but to the months as well.
El juego empieza este martes.
The game starts this Tuesday.
2. Add -s to make it plural (if it doesn’t already end in -s)
When using the definite article el while we talk about the days of the week, it means “on.” These phrases use the days of the week in the singular:
¿Vas a venir a mi casa el domingo?
Are you going to come to my house on Sunday?
Yo tengo que trabajar el lunes.
I have to work on Monday.
Él quiere ir al dentista el jueves.
He wants to go to the dentist on Thursday.
Furthermore, you change the definite article to los and add -s to the day when you mean to say that something happens habitually.
Yo hago compras con mi abuela los sábados.
I shop with my grandma on Saturdays.
Ella juega a las cartas los martes.
She plays cards on Tuesdays.
Los miércoles, yo trabajo como tutor de inglés.
On Wednesdays, I work as an English tutor.
3. Days of the week always take a determiner.
A determiner is a word that identifies whether a noun is general or specific (the, a, some). In addition to this, these determiners must always be masculine.
- Un = a, one
- El, los = the
- Cada = each
- Todos = every
- Este, ese, aquel, aquellos = this, that
- Muchos, algunos = a lot, some
4. Abbreviate each day as follows:
| Day | Abbreviation |
| lunes | lun. |
| martes | mar. |
| miércoles | mié. |
| jueves | jue. |
| viernes | vie. |
| sábado | sáb. |
| domingo | dom. |
5. The week always begins on Monday.
In contrast to the English calendar that starts with Sunday, the week begins on Monday in Latin countries.
Common Spanish Phrases About the Days of the Week
Let’s begin with three simple questions:
¿Qué día es hoy?
What day is today?
¿Qué día es mañana?
What day is tomorrow?
¿Qué día fue ayer?
What day was yesterday?
Now, let’s answer them:
Hoy es domingo.
Today is Sunday.
Mañana es lunes.
Tomorrow is Monday.
Ayer fue sábado.
Yesterday was Saturday.
Here are two important Spanish words that don’t exist in English:
- anteayer – the day before yesterday
- pasado mañana – the day after tomorrow
Anteayer fue viernes.
The day before yesterday was Friday.
Pasado mañana es martes.
The day after tomorrow is Tuesday.
Spanish Days of the Week: Time words
The following time words and prepositions will improve the quality of your Spanish when you make plans, set a schedule, or discuss days of the week with your friends in Spanish.
| English | Spanish |
| by | para |
| around | alrededor de |
| every or each | cada |
| all | todos |
| on | en |
| in | en |
| from | de o desde |
| to, til or until | a o hasta |
| since | desde |
| next | el siguiente o el próximo |
| this | este |
| last | el…pasado |
| previous | el…anterior |
| following | el…siguiente |
| before | antes (del…) |
| after | después (del…) |
| until after | hasta después (del…) |
Example Spanish Sentences
Tendré los documentos listos para el próximo martes.
I will have the documents ready by next Tuesday.
Terminarán de reparar la calle alrededor del viernes.
They are going to finish repairing the street around Friday.
Cada jueves tengo clase de español.
I have Spanish lessons every Thursday.
Todos los miércoles voy a comer pizza con mi amigo.
I go to eat pizza with my friend every Wednesday.
La tintorería está abierta de lunes a sábado, de 8 am a 5 pm.
The drycleaning is open from Monday to Saturday, from 8 am to 5 pm.
Mi hermano no ha salido de la casa desde el lunes.
My brother hasn’t left the house since Monday.
Nos veremos el próximo sábado para la parrillada.
We’ll see each other next Saturday for the BBQ.
La entrega del proyecto es este martes.
The due date of the project is this Tuesday.
Tuve un problema con mi refrigerador el domingo pasado.
I had a problem with my fridge last Sunday.
El sábado anterior ya había visitado a mi madre.
The previous Saturday I had already visited my mother.
El siguiente jueves ya habré terminado.
The following Thursday I will have already finished.
Necesitamos comprar los boletos antes del lunes.
We have to buy the tickets before Monday.
Podemos contactar al doctor hasta después del miércoles.
We can contact the doctor until after Wednesday.
Ongoing Versus Single Events
When you make the days plural (using the article los), it means “every.” If you leave them singular, it means “this” or “next.”
Tengo clases de boxeo los martes.
I have boxing classes on Tuesdays.
Tengo clase de boxeo el martes.
I have boxing class on Tuesday.
Ongoing Events:
Los miércoles no puedo ver a mis padres.
I can’t see my parents on Wednesdays.
Los domingos son mi día de descanso.
Sundays are my days to rest.
Singular Events:
El miércoles no puedo ver a mis padres.
I can’t see my parents on Wednesday.
El domingo es mi día de descanso.
Sunday is my day to rest.
PRO TIP! Just like in English, when we talk about scheduled events, even if they are scheduled for the future, we can use the presente simple (simple present) or el futuro simple (simple future), without affecting the meaning too much.
How to Remember the Spanish Days of the Week
Remembering seven new nouns can be tricky. In this next section I provide three different ways to memorize the seven Spanish days of the week in an easy way!
1. Associate them with the Planets!
Have you ever wondered where did the days of the week get their names? Celestial bodies! But if you don’t believe me, check this out.
lunes: moon
Lunes means el día de la luna (the day of the moon).
martes: Mars
Martes means el día de Marte (the day of Mars).
miércoles: Mercury
Miércoles means el día de Mercurio (the day of Mercury).
jueves: Jupiter
Jueves means el día de Júpiter (the day of Jupiter).
viernes: Venus
Viernes means el día de Venus (the day of Venus).
sábado: Saturn
Sábado means el día de Saturno (the day of Saturn).
domingo: sun
Domingo means el día del Sol (the day of the Sun).
The etymology of Sunday varies a little bit:
In English, Sunday clearly means the day of the Sun, which originates from ancient Rome. In Spanish, domingo means the day of the Lord (el día del Señor) which comes from the latin term dies Dominica.
2. Build an Acronym
Acronyms are fun ways of memorizing things. Get each initial of every Spanish day of the week: L, M, M, J, V, S, D and build a sentence with it:
Lazy Monkeys Mingle Joining Vast Sweaters Deeply.
The sentence doesn’t have to make sense. As long as you remember the exact order of the words and repeat it a few times, you’ll remember the initials, which will help you remember the order of the days of the week!
3. Tie Each Day to a Different Dish
This one might seem really strange but it works! Make yourself a “menu of the day” and associate a particular day with a specific food.
For example:
Lunes de pescado.
Fish Monday.
Martes de tacos.
Taco Tuesday.
Miércoles de pizza.
Pizza Wednesday.
Jueves de paches.
Pache Thursday.
Viernes de alitas.
Wing Friday.
Sábados de hamburguesas.
Burger Saturday.
Domingos de burritos.
Burrito Sundays.
FUN FACT! Paches are a typical Guatemalan food. In fact, jueves de paches is a weekly tradition where local shops or individual sellers sell freshly made paches. (Learn more about Latin American cuisine.)
More Schedule-Related Vocabulary
- Por la mañana – In the morning
- Antes / después del almuerzo – Before / after lunch
- Al mediodía – At noon / midday
- Por la tarde – In the afternoon
- Por la noche – At night
- Temprano – Early
- Tarde – Late
- Más tarde – Later (on)
- Pronto – Soon
- Ahora – Now
- Ahorita – Right away (or whenever!)
- Ayer – Yesterday
- Hoy – Today
- Mañana – Tomorrow
Practice Your Spanish
What’s the best memory trick of all? Practice! Nothing beats practice. As we say in Spanish:
La práctica hace al maestro.
Practice makes the master.
Sign up for a free Spanish class with us and immerse yourself in a language that nearly 500 million people in the world speak. Memorize the Spanish days of the week, months of the year, numbers, and much more with our tailored classes taught by our friendly Guatemalan teachers.
Join one of the 40,000 classes that we teach each month and you can experience results like these
“This is the best way for your kid to learn Spanish. It’s one-on-one, taught by native Spanish speakers, and uses a curriculum.”
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“It’s a great way to learn Spanish, from native Spanish speakers in a 1-on-1 environment. It’s been fairly easy to schedule classes around my daughter’s other classes. The best value for us has been ordering multiple classes at a time. All the instructors have been great!”
– Cindy D, Parent of 3
“HSA offers very affordable, quality, one on one classes with a native speaker. My son has greatly benefited from taking classes. We have seen his confidence increase as well as his pronunciation improve, because he learns from a native Spanish speaker. HSA has quick, personal customer service. Our family has been very pleased with our experience so far!”
– Erica P. Parent of 1
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