When you write dates in Spanish, you use a form of writing that is slightly different from what you learn in English (but a bit similar to writing dates in Indonesian), especially if you're from the United States or don't come from a Spanish-speaking country. One of the first things to notice is that in Spanish, the date is written first, followed by the month and year. Once you understand the difference, you can write dates in Spanish easily.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Learning Basic Forms
Step 1. Put the date first
Unlike in English, in Spanish you need to put the date first, followed by the month and year (this format resembles the Indonesian date format). Numbers can be separated by periods, dashes, or slashes.
For example, if you want to write the date “December 30, 2017” in a document, you can write it as “2017-12-30” or “30-12-2017”
Step 2. Write the date in a longer form
Use the “day, month, year” format when writing it. The date and year are written in numbers, while the month is written in words or letters. Date elements are separated by the word “de” which has a similar meaning to the preposition of in English.
For example, if you wanted to write the date "October 3, 2017" in Spanish, you could write it as "3 de octubre de 2017" (literal translation: the third day of October in 2017). Unlike in English, you don't need to insert a comma when writing a date in Spanish
Step 3. Don't capitalize month names
Unlike writing dates in English and Indonesian (or other languages), you don't need to capitalize the Spanish month names. When writing the date, make sure the name of the month is written in lower case.
For example, you should write " 3 de octubre de 2017 " instead of " 3 de Octubre de 2017"
Step 4. Use " primero " for the first day of the month
Generally when writing long forms of dates in Spanish, you need to use numbers. However, this rule changes for the first day of the month. For situations like this, the word " primero " (meaning "first") is usually used in writing.
- For example, you could write January 1 as "primero de enero."
- If you want to write the first date in numbers, use the number “1” followed by a lowercase “o”. The date can be written as follows: “1º de enero de 2017”.
Step 5. Abbreviate the date using letters and numbers
In Spanish, each month has a three-letter abbreviation. Sometimes, you may see the date and year written in numbers, with a three-letter abbreviation representing the month of the date.
- For each month, the three-letter abbreviation used is the first three letters of the month's name.
- For example, the date "July 11, 2017" could be shortened to "July 11-2017" in Spanish.
- You can also write the date as "11/7/2017" ("7" refers to July, the seventh month of the year).
Method 2 of 3: Getting to Know the Vocabulary
Step 1. Write the names of the months in Spanish
If you want to write the date in long form, you will need to know and spell the names of each month in Spanish. You need to know the spelling of each month's name in order to recognize the abbreviated forms of the month names.
- January = enero (pronounced “enero”).
- February = febrero (pronounced “febrero”).
- March = marzo (pronounced “mar-tso”; consonant “ts” is read like “ts” in “vetsin”).
- April = abril (pronounced "abril").
- May = mayo (pronounced "mayo").
- Juni = junio (pronounced "hunio").
- July = julio (pronounced "hulio").
- August = agosto (pronounced “agosto”).
- September = septiembre (pronounced "septiembre").
- October = octubre (pronounced “octubre”).
- November = noviembre (pronounced “noviembre”).
- December = diciembre (pronounced “di-tsiembre”; consonant “ts” is read like “ts” in “vetsin”).
Step 2. Learn the names of numbers in Spanish
You really don't need to write the date part (eg the 21st) using the alphabet/word when writing the date in Spanish. However, understanding the spelling of a word will help you when you need to read out the written date.
- The first day or day of the month can be written as uno (one, pronounced “uno”), el primer día (first day, pronounced “el primer dia”), or el primero (first, pronounced “el primero”).
- Dua = dos (pronounced “dos”).
- Three = tres (pronounced “tres”).
- Four = cuatro (pronounced “quatro”).
- Lima = cinco (pronounced “sinko”).
- Six = seis (pronounced “seis”).
- Seven = siete (pronounced “siete”).
- Eight = ocho (pronounced “ocho”).
- Nine = nueve (pronounced "nueve").
- Ten = diez (pronounced “dies”).
Step 3. Learn the vocabulary of the numbers after 10
Since there are 31 days in a month, you can't stop learning the numbers up to 10. In Spanish, the numbers 11-15 have their own names, while the names for other numbers follow a pattern.
If you don't know the names of numbers in Spanish, reading and writing the date can be a great form of practice
Step 4. Write the year in full words if you want to practice your skills
Just as you don't need to write down the date in Spanish, you don't need to write the year in the same way. However, it's a good idea to understand how to write it in words so you can pronounce or pronounce the date correctly.
- State the year in thousands and hundreds. For example, the year “1900” is written as “mile novecientos” (pronounced “mile novecientos”) in Spanish. The phrase means "one thousand nine hundred". In Spanish, there is no equivalent phrase to the phrase “nineteen hundred”, as is commonly used in English.
- Continue with tens and ones after you've mentioned the thousands and hundreds. For example, the year “1752” could be written as “mil setecientos cincuenta y dos” (pronounced “mil setetsientos sincuenta yi dos”) in Spanish.
Method 3 of 3: Studying Related Words and Phrases
Step 1. Say the names of the days of the week
Sometimes when writing a date, you also want to include the name of the day for the date. As with month names, day names are not capitalized in Spanish (different from English and Indonesian).
- Sunday = domingo (pronounced “dominggo”).
- Monday = lunes (read "lunes").
- Tuesday = martes (pronounced “martes”).
- Wednesday = miércoles (pronounced “mierkoles”).
- Thursday = jueves (pronounced “hueves”).
- Friday = viernes (pronounced "viernes").
- Saturday = sábado (pronounced “sabado”).
Step 2. Name the day without specifying the date
When writing a specific date, or especially multiple dates, you may find it easier to use other time adverbs such as "today" or "tomorrow". Words like this make writing feel more natural and easy to understand.
- For "today," use the word hoy (pronounced "hoy"). In Spanish, yesterday is ayer (pronounced “ayer”), while “tomorrow” is mañana (pronounced “manyana”).
- The word "week" in Spanish is semana (pronounced "semana"). If you want to write "weekend," use the phrase el fin de semana (pronounced "el fin de semana"). In Spanish, the phrase "this week" is esta semana (pronounced "esta semana") and "last week" is la semana pasada (pronounced "la semana pasada"). If you want to write the phrase "next week", use the phrase la semana que viene (pronounced "la semana ke viene") which literally means "next week".
Step 3. Name the season
When writing a date, it may be relevant to mention the season for that date. Keep in mind that the seasons in the southern hemisphere are opposite to the seasons in the northern hemisphere.
- To mention spring, use the word la primavera (pronounced “la primavera”).
- Use el verano (pronounced “el verano”) to write “summer”.
- Write el otoño (pronounced “el otonyo”) to write “autumn”.
- Use el invierno (pronounced “el invierno”) to write “winter”.
Step 4. Ask for the date in Spanish
The question " Cuál es la fecha de hoy? " (read “Kual es la fecha de hoy?”) is used when you want to know the date. For example, if you are writing a story in Spanish, you can use the question when a character asks for the date.
