Imagine waking up on Monday morning and seeing it at the very start of your calendar grid, right where Sunday usually sits. In the Spanish-speaking world, time flows in a slightly different rhythm on paper. Let's unlock how to talk about your week, your birthday, and yesterday's adventures!
Words to own
- el lunes
- Monday (remember: days of the week are always masculine and lowercase!)
- enero
- January (the start of the year, also written with a lowercase 'e')
- hoy
- today (remember that the 'h' in Spanish is completely silent!)
- mañana
- tomorrow / morning (a super useful double-duty word!)
- ayer
- yesterday (essential for talking about the recent past)
- el fin de semana
- the weekend (literally translates to 'the end of the week')
- el mes
- the month (plural: los meses)
The Monday Kickoff
Unlike English calendars that often put Sunday first, Spanish calendars always start the week on Monday (lunes). To a Spanish speaker, Sunday is part of the 'fin de semana' (weekend), so it belongs logically at the very end of the row.
This means when you look at a school timetable or a calendar hanging on a wall in Madrid or Mexico City, the first column on the left will be Monday. Don't let this shift trip you up when planning your week!
| Point | Spanish Calendar | English Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Start Day | lunes (Monday) | Sunday (domingo) |
| Capitalisation | lowercase (e.g., martes, abril) | Capitalised (e.g., Tuesday, April) |
| The Weekend Position | Grouped together at the far right | Split between the start and end of the row |
| Grammar Gender | All days are masculine (el lunes) | No gender assigned |
Phrase deck
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No Capitals Allowed!
In English, we treat days and months like VIPs and give them capital letters. In Spanish, they are treated like regular, everyday words.
You will write 'hoy es lunes' (today is Monday) and 'mi cumpleaños es en marzo' (my birthday is in March) using lowercase letters. The only exception to this rule is if the day or month starts a sentence!
The pattern
Using 'el' and 'los' with Days
In Spanish, we do not say 'on Monday'; we use 'el' (the) or 'los' (the plural) to indicate when things happen.
- on Monday (literally: 'the Monday')
- on Tuesdays / every Tuesday (literally: 'the Tuesdays')
- on the weekend
- in January (we use 'en' for months, just like English 'in'!)
Asking and Telling the Date
To ask what day it is, we say: '¿Qué día es hoy?' (What day is today?). To answer, we use the magic word 'es' followed by the day.
For example, you say: 'Hoy es miércoles' (Today is Wednesday). If we want to talk about tomorrow, we say: 'Mañana es jueves' (Tomorrow is Thursday).
The Twelve Months (Los Meses)
The names of the months in Spanish look a lot like English because they both share Latin roots. This makes them super easy to recognise and memorise!
Here they are: enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septiembre, octubre, noviembre, diciembre. Watch out for spelling differences like 'febrero' and 'septiembre'!
Role-play
Planning the Weekend
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Conversación
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Myth-busting corner
MythYou need to capitalise days and months in Spanish just like in English.
TruthNo! Days and months are lowercase (lunes, marzo) unless they are the very first word starting a sentence.
MythTo say 'on Monday' you should translate 'on' directly as 'en' and say 'en lunes'.
TruthIncorrect! In Spanish, you use the masculine article 'el' (the) to mean 'on'. So 'on Monday' is 'el lunes'.
MythSpanish calendars are laid out exactly identical to English ones.
TruthNot quite! Spanish calendars traditionally start the week on Monday (lunes), placing the weekend (sábado, domingo) together at the end of the row.
Exam answer that scores full marks
Explain two ways Spanish calendars/date-writing differ from English conventions.
First, days of the week and months are not capitalised in Spanish; we write 'hoy es lunes' [today is Monday] with a lowercase 'l'. Second, Spanish-language calendars traditionally start the week on Monday (lunes) rather than Sunday, placing the weekend (sábado, domingo) together at the end of the weekly row.
Why it scores
- Clearly identifies the lowercase spelling rule for days and months with a helpful example.
- Accurately explains the structural calendar difference regarding the week starting on Monday.
- Uses accurate Spanish vocabulary (lunes, sábado, domingo) naturally to support the explanation.