Spanish days of the week, months and dates

The days of the week are fundamental elements when learning Spanish. They help you talk about daily routines, plans, and events. Here are the days of the week in Spanish and their English equivalents:

Days of the week are written in lowercase in Spanish, unless they begin a sentence. When referring to a day on which something happens, Spanish commonly uses the definite article el. To talk about a recurring activity, use the plural article los.

• Hoy es martes. — Today is Tuesday.
• El lunes vamos al cine. — We are going to the cinema on Monday.
• Los lunes trabajo desde casa. — I work from home on Mondays.

In the standard international convention, the week begins on Monday. Usage can vary by country and calendar system.

Months in Spanish are written in lowercase, unlike in English, where month names are capitalized. They are capitalized only when they begin a sentence or appear in a context that requires capitalization, such as some titles.

This rule is important when writing dates or discussing months. Here are the months in Spanish and their English equivalents:

• enero — January
• febrero — February
• marzo — March
• abril — April
• mayo — May
• junio — June
• julio — July
• agosto — August
• septiembre — September
• octubre — October
• noviembre — November
• diciembre — December

For example:

• Mi cumpleaños es en enero. — My birthday is in January.
• Viajamos en agosto. — We travel in August.

When expressing a date, Spanish generally follows the order day, month, year, unlike the usual month-day-year order in American English. The day and year are connected to the month with de.

The main components are:

• Días de la semana: the days of the week;
• Meses: the months;
• Fechas: dates.

Examples:

• El 12 de octubre de 2020 fue lunes. — October 12, 2020, was a Monday.
• El 1 de enero de 2021 fue viernes. — January 1, 2021, was a Friday.
• El 25 de diciembre de 2022 fue domingo. — December 25, 2022, was a Sunday.

For the first day of a month, both el 1 de and el primero de are used. The ordinal form primero is especially common in speech.

• El primero de enero es festivo. — January 1 is a public holiday.

Notice that Spanish uses lowercase for the day and month names, and that the definite article el commonly precedes a complete date.

Days, months, and dates do not change form according to the season, but seasons influence which dates and calendar expressions are discussed most often. Cultural and regional practices also affect these references.

• Days of the week: Plans, events, and routines may make a particular day especially frequent in a given season. For example:
• El lunes empieza el curso escolar en septiembre. — The school year starts on Monday in September.
• Months: Some months have particular cultural importance. For example:
• Diciembre suele mencionarse por las fiestas de fin de año. — December is often mentioned because of the end-of-year holidays.
• Agosto es un mes habitual para las vacaciones de verano. — August is a common month for summer holidays.
• Dates: Certain dates are prominent because of festivals or seasonal events. For example:
• El quince de agosto es una fecha importante en muchos países de tradición católica. — August 15 is an important date in many countries with a Catholic tradition.

Seasonal references add cultural context to conversations about dates and times of year.

• Seasonal references:
• La Semana Santa suele celebrarse en primavera, aunque sus fechas cambian cada año. — Holy Week is usually celebrated in spring, although its dates change each year.
• Las vacaciones de verano empiezan en junio en algunas regiones. — Summer holidays begin in June in some regions.
• Weather discussions:
• El invierno trae días más fríos. — Winter brings colder days.
• La primavera evoca la renovación y un clima más cálido. — Spring evokes renewal and warmer weather.

The seasons and the timing of events can vary by hemisphere and region.

In Spanish, days of the week and months are common nouns rather than proper nouns. For this reason, they are normally written in lowercase.

For example, lunes, martes, and miércoles are lowercase, as are enero, febrero, and marzo. They are capitalized only when they begin a sentence or occur in a context that requires capitalization, such as some titles.

Compare these examples:

• El lunes tenemos una reunión. — We have a meeting on Monday.
• Mi cumpleaños es en febrero. — My birthday is in February.

This contrasts with English, where days of the week and months are normally capitalized wherever they appear.