Months and the Basic Spanish Date
Spanish dates place the day before the month and connect them with de. Learn the month names, then assemble a date without importing English word order.
Learning objective
Name the months and state a date using day, de, and month.
Meet the year in four seasonal-sized groups: enero, febrero, marzo; abril, mayo, junio; julio, agosto, septiembre; octubre, noviembre, diciembre. These are January through December. Spanish month names are normally lowercase in running text, unlike their usual English counterparts.
Build a spoken date in the order day, de, month: el cinco de mayo means the fifth of May. De is a preposition, a small linking word; here it joins the numbered day to the month. Written numerals can replace the number word: el 5 de mayo.
Ask ¿Qué fecha es hoy?, meaning What is today's date? Answer Hoy es el doce de agosto, Today is the twelfth of August. For the first day of a month, both el primero de enero and el uno de enero occur, with preferences varying by region and convention.
All-numeric dates can be ambiguous across international systems. Writing 5 de mayo makes the month clear and keeps the Spanish day-first pattern visible. If a year is needed, add another de: el 5 de mayo de 2026. This lesson first secures the day-and-month frame.
Examples
el cinco de mayo
the fifth of May
The Spanish structure places the day before the month.
Hoy es el doce de agosto.
Today is the twelfth of August.
Hoy means today and introduces the date.
el primero de enero
the first of January
Primero is a common option for the first day of a month.
el 5 de mayo de 2026
5 May 2026
A second de links the year.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- mayo cinco
- Try
- el cinco de mayo
The intended Spanish date uses day before month and connects them with de. It also normally includes el in this full date phrase. Importing the compact English order hides the pattern that listeners expect, so rebuild it from the calendar day outward.
Practice
Try it yourself
Decode three calendar cards into full Spanish dates: 14/02, 01/08, and 25/12. Write month names in lowercase. For 01/08, give both regionally available day forms mentioned in the lesson.