Spanish · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 9 of 12
Time and dates
Los días y las fechas
Learn the days of the week and the months in Spanish, say dates, and talk about your plans with ir a + infinitive.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Say the days of the week and the months
- Ask and say the date
- Talk about plans with voy a…
- Arrange a day and time to meet
Listen
Tomás and Irene, two friends, are having a coffee in Zaragoza. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Tomás
Irene, ¿qué día es hoy?
Irene, what's the date today?
Irene
Hoy es martes, diez de octubre. ¿Por qué?
Today is Tuesday, the tenth of October. Why?
Tomás
Porque el viernes es mi cumpleaños.
Because Friday is my birthday.
Irene
¿Ah, sí? ¿Y qué vas a hacer?
Oh, really? And what are you going to do?
Tomás
El viernes voy a cenar con mi familia. Y el sábado voy a hacer una fiesta en casa.
On Friday I'm going to have dinner with my family. And on Saturday I'm going to have a party at home.
Irene
¿A qué hora?
At what time?
Tomás
A las nueve de la noche. ¿Vas a venir?
At nine in the evening. Are you going to come?
Irene
Sí, claro. El sábado catorce, a las nueve.
Yes, of course. Saturday the fourteenth, at nine.
Tomás
Perfecto. Hasta el sábado.
Perfect. See you on Saturday.
Irene
Hasta el sábado, Tomás.
See you on Saturday, Tomás.
Understand
Days and months
The days of the week are (Monday), (Tuesday), (Wednesday), (Thursday), (Friday), (Saturday) and (Sunday). In Spanish, days and months start with a small letter.
To say “on Friday”, just say , with no word for “on”. For something that happens every week, use the plural: (on Fridays).
| Spanish | English | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | July | ||
| February | August | ||
| March | September | ||
| April | October | ||
| May | November | ||
| June | December |
Dates, today and tomorrow
Spanish dates use normal numbers, not “first, second, third”: (14 October), literally “the fourteen of October”. For the first day of the month, Spain usually says . In Latin America, is more common.
To ask the date, say Be careful with : on its own it means “tomorrow”, but is “the morning”.
- Hoy es lunes, uno de marzo.Today is Monday, the first of March.
- Mi cumpleaños es el veinte de julio.My birthday is on the twentieth of July.
- Mañana voy a trabajar.Tomorrow I'm going to work.
- Pasado mañana es domingo.The day after tomorrow is Sunday.
Ir a + infinitive: talking about plans
To say what you're going to do, use the verb (to go), then , then the infinitive (the dictionary form of the verb): (I'm going to have dinner). It works just like “going to” in English.
is irregular in the present, so learn its forms. On its own, + a place means “to go to”: (I'm going to Toledo). Remember that + becomes (chapter 6): (I'm going to the bank). … can also mean “Let's…”: (Let's eat).
| Person | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| (I'm going to have dinner at home.) | ||
| (What are you going to do?) | ||
| / / | (She's going to come.) | |
| / | (We're going to eat. / Let's eat.) | |
| / | (Are you going to come?) | |
| / / | (They're going to work.) |
More in the grammar: Spanish numbers: from 0 to a million · The future: ir a and the future tense
New words
- ¿Qué día es hoy?What's the date today? / What day is it today?
- hoytoday
- ¿Por qué?Why?
- porquebecause
- el cumpleañosbirthday · masculine
- ¿Ah, sí?Oh, really?
- ¿Qué vas a hacer?What are you going to do? · : to do, to make
- cenarto have dinner
- la fiestaparty · feminine
- venirto come
- claroof course
- hasta el sábadosee you on Saturday
- mañanatomorrow
- la semana que vienenext week
Practise
1.You play football every Monday. How do you say “on Mondays”?
2.Complete with the right form of .
I'm going to have dinner with my family.
3.Write the month in Spanish: May.
My birthday is on the third of May.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.What are you going to do on Saturday?
5.Match the days of the week.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.Today is Tuesday. Which day is ?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
¿Qué día es hoy?
What's the date today?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.