The Months in Spanish 📆
The months in Spanish are:
- Enero – January
- Febrero – February
- Marzo – March
- Abril – April
- Mayo – May
- Junio – June
- Julio – July
- Agosto– August
- Septiembre – September
- Octubre – October
- Noviembre – November
- Diciembre – December
Always masculine & not capitalized
Important notes:
1) Los meses (the months), just like the days in Spanish, are masculine.
Por ejemplo (for example): En el mes de diciembre se celebra la navidad. (Christmas is celebrated in December).
2) Unlike English, months are no capitalized in Spanish, a menos que (unless) we are starting a sentence.
How to say a date
Spanish-speakers say dates backwards – in relation to English: Hoy es 20 de julio de 2020 (Today is July 20th, 2020).
Did you see what happened there? The most common pattern for writing dates in Spanish is:
number + de + month + de + year
Another difference you might have noticed is the use of cardinal numbers in Spanish: 20 de julio (literallly, 20 OF July), while ordinal numbers are preferred in English: July 20th.
Important note:
In Spanish, when saying what year it is, you may say “del 2020” (of the 2020) or “de 2020” (of 2020). Both are correct.
When somebody asks “¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?” (When is your birthday?), the usual response is “Mi cumpleaños es el 26 de junio” (My birthday is June 26th”) or, simply, “El 26 de junio” (June 26th). So, the structure is as follows:
article + number + de + month
The Seasons
Most people’s favorite season of the year is verano (Summer) because it is related to sol, playa, festivales (the sun, the beach, festivals)… definitely the best season!
The seasons in Spanish are the following:
- Primavera – Spring
- Verano – Summer
- Otoño – Autumn
- Invierno – Winter
How to remember the names in Spanish?
You probably noticed that the names of the months are very similar in English. This is so because those names come from Roman gods, Roman festivals, Roman leaders, and Roman numbers, en ese orden, in that order (PHEW!).
Veamos (Let’s see):
- Enero (January) comes from the Roman god Ianuarius or Janus.
- Febrero (February) comes from Februa, a Roman festivity.
- Marzo (March) comes from the god Marte (Mars).
- Abril (April) comes from Aphrodite.
- Mayo (May) comes from Maia, another Roman deity.
- Junio (June) comes from the Goddess Juno (June).
- Julio (July) in honor of Julio César (Julius Caesar).
- Agosto (August) in honor of August Caesar.
- Septiembre (September) refers to séptimo (seventh).
- Octubre (October) refers to octavo (eighth).
- Noviembre (November) refers to noveno (ninth).
- Diciembre (December) refers to décimo (tenth).
We’ve learnt the months, now let’s use them in the following examples:
- Los meses de verano son junio, julio, agosto y septiembre (Summer months are June, July, August and September).
- ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? (When is your birthday?)
Mi cumpleaños es el 26 de junio. (My birthday is June 26th)
- Halloween se celebra el 31 de octubre y el Día de muertos se celebra el 1 y 2 de noviembre en México. (Halloween is October 31st and The Day of the Dead is on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico)
- El 1 de enero es el Día Internacional de la Paz. (January 1st is the International World Peace day)
- El 5 de Mayo no es el Día de la Independencia de México, sino el 15 de septiembre. (May 5th is not Mexico’s Independence day, but September 15th)
FREE Spanish Training
¡Fantástico! (Awesome!) Now you know all the months in Spanish!
We have a whole series of Spanish beginner videos, so feel free to check them all out on our channel!
Now, if you’re ready to take it a step further and get serious about learning Spanish, we have a free Spanish training on our website where you’ll discover the method we use in our Spring Spanish Academy to teach students to speak fluent Spanish. You also get some free sample Spanish lessons there that come straight from our Academy!