Expressing dates in Spanish
Dates in Spanish are expressed in a different way to English.
Learn about dates in Spanish
Read and listen to these examples:
7 de febrero de 1986.7th February 1986 / February 7 1986
15 de julio de 1949.15th July 1949 / July 15 1949
23 de diciembre de 200123rd December 2001/ December 23 2001
To say the date in Spanish, you need to use this structure:
number + de + month + de + year
Don't forget de! In Spanish it is compulsory.
Article El
When the date is in a sentence that is telling you when something takes place you need the article "el" before the number.
Note that dates are always masculine, so it's never la.
Mi cumpleaños es el 14 de mayo.My birthday is the 14th of May/ May 14.
Number
The main difference between dates in English and Spanish is the numbers:
- English dates use ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th...)
- Spanish dates use cardinal numbers (dos, tres, cuatro, etc.) so, not segundo (2nd), tercero (3rd), cuarto (4th), etc.
- EXCEPTION For the first day of the month, you can use both cardinal (uno) and ordinal (primero) numbers. Both are correct.
Uno de octubre / Primero de octubre1st of October / October 1
Month
In Spanish, months are never capitalised:
| enero | mayo | septiembre |
| febrero | junio | octubre |
| marzo | julio | noviembre |
| abril | agosto | diciembre |
Year
In Spanish, years are always read as full numbers!
1789 (mil setecientos ochenta y nueve)1789 (seventeen eighty-nine)
2018 (dos mil dieciocho)2018 (twenty eighteen)
1920 (mil novecientos veinte)1920 (nineteen twenty)
1972 (mil novecientos setenta y dos)1972 (nineteen seventy-two)
You never say: diecinueve sesenta y cuatro (1964) but mil novecientos sesenta y cuatro.
Have a look at List of numbers from 1 to 50 in SpanishWant to make sure your Spanish sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
