Write the Date in Spanish

Writing the date in Spanish is easy, but you must keep in mind that the date should be written with the day before the month. You should also make yourself familiar with essential Spanish vocabulary associated with the date. Keep reading to learn more.

Steps

Know the Basic Form

1. Write the date in day, month, year format. When writing the "long form" of the date, spell out the month but use numerical values for the day and year.
   • The other elements of the date are separated with the word "de," the Spanish word for "of."
   • Example: "3 de octubre de 2010"
   • The above example translates into "third of October of 2010."
2. Shorten the date by using all numerical values. When using the "short form" of the date, all the elements are represented by numerical values. No written forms are used.
   • The date is still written in day, month, year format.
   • Separate each element of the date with a period.
   • Do not use "de" in the shortened form.
   • Example: "3.10.2010"

Understand Each Part

1. Learn to write the months in Spanish. Also note that the months of the year should not be capitalized in Spanish, unlike their English counterparts.
   • "January" is "enero."
   • "February" is "febrero."
   • "March" is "marzo."
   • "April" is "abril."
   • "May" is "mayo."
   • "June" is "junio."
   • "July" is "julio."
   • "August" is "agosto."
   • "September" is "septiembre."
   • "October" is "octubre."
   • "November" is "noviembre."
   • "December" is "diciembre."
2. Understand how to write out the numbers 1 through 31. When writing the date, you do not need to know how to write the day out. Knowing how to write these numerical values out will aid you in reading the written date correctly, however, while also making it easier to say the date aloud.
   • The first day of the month it can be written as "uno" ("one"), "el primer día" or "el primero," meaning "the first day" or "the first," respectively.
   • Note that the other days of the month are simply referred to by their cardinal numbers.
   • "Two" is "dos."
   • "Three" is "tres."
   • "Four" is "cuatro."
   • "Five" is "cinco."
   • "Six" is "seis."
   • "Seven" is "siete."
   • "Eight" is "ocho."
   • "Nine" is "nueve."
   • "Ten" is "diez."
   • "Eleven" is "once."
   • "Twelve" is "doce."
   • "Thirteen" is "trece."
   • "Fourteen" is "catorce."
   • "Fifteen" is "quince."
   • "Sixteen" is "dieciséis." Note that for the 16, 17, 18 and 19 numbers, the word is formed by combining "diez y seis" ("ten and six"--> Sixteen), "diez y siete", "diez y ocho" and "diez y nueve".
   • "Seventeen" is "diecisiete."
   • "Eighteen" is "dieciocho."
   • "Nineteen" is "diecinueve."
   • "Twenty" is "veinte." Note that for the remainder of the 20s, the word is formed by combining "veinte" with the respective term for the second numerical value. The ending "e" from "veinte" is dropped and replaced with an "i."
   • As such, the remaining 20s are "veintiuno," "veintidos," "veintitrés," "veinticuatro," "veinticinco," "veintiséis," "veintisiete," "veientiocho," and "veintinueve."
   • "Thirty" is "treinta."
   • "Thirty-one" is "treinta y uno."
3. Know how to write out the year. As with the day, you should never need to write out the year when writing the date in Spanish. Knowing how to write out the year will allow you to say the date correctly in your mind, though, and may also make it easier to pronounce the date when you need to say it out loud.
   • In Spanish, the year is always spelled out in thousands and hundreds. For instance, the year "1900" is spelled out as "mil novecientos," which translates literally into "one thousand, nine hundred." There is no Spanish equivalent to the phrase "nineteen hundred."
   • In order to say "2000," you would say "dos mil."
   • After the thousands and hundreds are stated, the tens and ones follow as usual. For example, "1752" would be written out as "mil setecientos cincuenta y dos."
   • You must learn to spell out all the possible values for the "tens" place. As stated above, 20 is "veinte" and 30 is "treinta." The remaining values are "cuarenta" (40), "cincuenta" (50), "sesenta" (60), "setenta" (70), "ochenta" (80), and "noventa" (90).
   • You must also learn to spell out all the possible values for the "hundreds" place. Those values are "cien" (100), "doscientos" (200), "trescientos" (300), "cuatrocientos" (400), "quinientos" (500), "seiscientos" (600), "setecientos" (700), "ochocientos" (800), and "novecientos" (900).

Related Vocabulary

1. Learn to write the days of the week. Note that, as with terms referring to the month, terms referring to the specific day of the week are not capitalized.
   • "Monday" is "lunes."
   • "Tuesday" is "martes."
   • "Wednesday" is "miércoles."
   • "Thursday" is "jueves."
   • "Friday" is "viernes."
   • "Saturday" is "sábado."
   • "Sunday" is "domingo."
2. Note how to refer to days of the week without dates. Sometimes, you may find it more convenient to refer to a day as "today," "tomorrow," or "the weekend." Knowing how to write these vocabulary terms and others like them can make your written conversations seem more natural and easier to understand.
   • "Today" is translated to "hoy," "yesterday" is translated to "ayer," and "tomorrow" is translated to "mañana."
   • To write "the weekend" in Spanish, write "el fin de semana." The term "el fin" means "end," "de" means "of," and "semana" means week. Literally translated, this entire phrase means "the end of the week."
   • To refer to "this week," write "esta semana." The term "esta" means "this" and "semana" means "week."
   • When talking about "last week," write "la semana pasada." The term "la semana" means "week"and "pasada" means past.
   • If mentioning "next week," write "la semana que viene." The term "la semana" means "week" and "que viene" means "that comes." As such, this phrase means "the week that comes."
3. Know how to say the season. One's description of the date can be further enhanced by mentioning the season, or "la estacion del año," during which the date took place.
   • Write "la primavera" to refer to spring.
   • Write "el verano" when talking about summer.
   • Use "el otoño" when writing about autumn.
   • Write "el invierno" if mentioning winter.

Asking and Answering about the Date

1. Write "¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?" Translated literally, this question asked, "what is the date of today?"
   • The term "cuál" means "what.
   • The term "es" is a conjugated form of "ser," meaning "to be." In this form, it means "it is" or simply "is."
   • "La fecha" means "the date."
   • The phrase "de hoy" means "of today."
   • You can also drop "de hoy," and the question will still make sense.
2. Try "¿Cuántos somos hoy?" Translated literally, this question asks, "how many are we today?"
   • The phrase "Cuántos" means "how many."
   • "Somos" is a conjugated form of the verb "ser", meaning "to be." In this form, it means "are we."
   • "Hoy" means "today."
   • Note that the "hoy" can be dropped off this question, as well, and the question as a whole will still make sense.
3. Ask "¿Qué día es hoy?" Translated literally, this question means "what day is today?"
   • This question is most commonly used when asking for the day of the week (domingo, lunes, and so on) but it can also be used to ask for the date.
   • "Qué" means "what."
   • "Día" means "day."
   • The term "es" is a conjugated form of "ser," meaning "to be." In this form, it means "it is" or simply "is."
   • "Hoy" means "today."
4. Practice answering when someone asks for the current date. Typically, you would respond to the question simply by stating "Hoy es..." followed by the date.
   • "Hoy" means "today" and "es" means "is."
   • You can also drop the "hoy" and write "Es..." followed by the date.
   • Example: "Hoy es 3 de octubre de 2010."
   • Example: "Es 3 de octubre de 2010."

Numbers Cheat Sheet

Doc:Numbers in Spanish

Date Cheat Sheets

Doc:Months in Spanish,Days of the Week in Spanish,Years in Spanish

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• Say the Date in Spanish
• Tell Time in Spanish
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Sources and Citations

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