Let’s Mark the Calendar: Writing the Date in Spanish

Alright, my fellow language enthusiasts, grab your calendars because today is the day we conquer writing dates in Spanish! Whether you’re penning an email, planning your next holiday to a Spanish-speaking paradise, or just scheduling a cheeky event, knowing how to jot down the date properly is a must.

Here, we’ll guide you through the essentials, starting with Understanding the Basics and then mastering The Order of Things. You’ll learn that the Days of the Week and Months of the Year are kept lowercase along with key details that will make your Spanish shine. We’ll also show you how to include precision by Adding the Year and Adding the Day of the Week. To top it off, we’ll boost your vocabulary with essential Calendar Vocabulary and handy Useful Phrases. By the end, you’ll be writing dates in Spanish like a pro, ready to impress in any situation. ¡Vamos! Let’s do this together!

Understanding the Basics: Cardinal vs. Ordinal

First things first, let’s talk numbers. Unlike in English, where we use ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd), Spanish dates are written with cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3). So, you’re dealing with straightforward counting, no fancy suffixes needed.

The Order of Things: Day, Month, Year

In Spanish, dates follow the day-month-year format, which might be a tad different from what you’re used to if you hail from across the pond. This means instead of writing March 5, 2024, you’d write it as 5 de marzo de 2024.

Days of the Week: No Caps, Please

Here’s a little nugget to remember – days of the week in Spanish aren’t capitalised. And if you want to say something happens on a certain day, you’ll need to use el or los.

• lunes — Monday
• martes — Tuesday
• miércoles — Wednesday
• jueves — Thursday
• viernes — Friday
• sábado — Saturday
• domingo — Sunday

Ejemplos:

• Me voy el lunes. (I’m leaving on Monday.)
• Yo juego los sábados. (I play on Saturdays.)

Months of the Year: Keep It Lowercase

Just like the days, months in Spanish aren’t capitalised. To say in a certain month, simply use en.

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

Ejemplo:

• Voy a México en junio. (I’m going to Mexico in June.)

Adding the Year

When you’re talking about dates from past years, it’s crucial to mention which year you’re referring to. To do this, you simply add de and then the year. For the current year, you can leave it out, just as you would in English.

Want to write the year? Here you go: dos mil veinticuatro (2024). And if you want to recount a significant event from the twentieth century, like when Franco died, you would say: mil novecientos setenta y cinco (1975).

Formula to remember:
es + el + day + de + month + de + year

Ejemplos:

• Es el 18 de abril de 2020. (It is April 18, 2020.)
• Es el 27 de diciembre de 1933. (It is December 27, 1933.)
• Es el 22 de marzo de 1865. (It is March 22, 1865.)

Adding the Day of the Week

Want to get even more precise? Add the day of the week! Place the day before the date and add a comma.

Ejemplos:

• 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

Let’s enrich your time-telling toolkit with some essential calendar vocab. These words will help you talk about today, tomorrow, yesterday, or even last week.

• la fecha — date
• el calendario — calendar
• hoy — today
• mañana — tomorrow
• ayer — yesterday
• la semana — week
• el fin de semana — the weekend
• la semana próxima — next week
• la semana pasada — last week
• el mes — month
• el año — year

Ejemplos:

• 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

Here are some handy phrases to ask for the date or to add context to your sentences.

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…

Ejemplos:

• 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.)

Now you’re all set to write dates in Spanish like a pro! Whether you’re planning a trip, setting up a meeting, or just marking your calendar for a special event, you’ll be able to do it with flair. ¡Buena suerte!