3. Days, Months, Dates, Seasons

Los Días, Los Meses, Las Fechas, Las Estaciones
Los Días de la Semana

1. On followed by a day of the week is expressed by el in Spanish if the day is in the singular. If the day is in the plural, los is used.
2. In English, the names of the days are often used in the singular even when they refer to more than one day. For example, on Saturday may mean either a particular Saturday or every Saturday. Before translating such phrases, you must decide which meaning is intended:

We are going to the movies on Saturday.	Vamos al cine el sábado.
We go to the movies on Saturdays.	Vamos al cine los sábados.

3. The names of the five weekdays end in -s in both the singular and the plural: el jueves, los jueves.
4. The Spanish names for the days of the week generally begin with a small letter; they are not capitalized as in English.

   Exercise: Complete the Spanish translations.

   1. On Wednesdays we do not watch TV. _______________________________ no miramos la televisión.
   2. They generally visit their grandparents on Friday. Generalmente visitan a sus abuelos ___________________________.
   3. What are you doing on Sunday? ¿Qué haces ___________________________________ ?
   4. On Monday my uncle is coming to our house.___________________________________ mi tío viene a nuestra casa.

   Los Meses del Año

   enero	January	julio	July
   febrero	February	agosto	August
   marzo	March	septiembre	September
   abril	April	octubre	October
   mayo	May	noviembre	November
   junio	June	diciembre	December

5. The Spanish names of the months are generally not capitalized.

Exercise: Complete each sentence with the name of the appropriate month.

1. Celebramos la Navidad en el mes de _________________________.
2. El primer mes del año es __________________________________.
3. No vamos a la escuela en los meses de ___________ y __________.
4. El tercer mes del año es ___________________________________.

La Fecha

¿Cuál es la fecha (de hoy)?	What is the date (today)?
Hoy es el primero de mayo.	Today is May 1st ("the first of May").
Viene el dos de junio.	He is coming on June 2nd.
Es el veintiuno de noviembre.	It is November 21st.
Hoy es el trece de abril de mil novecientos setenta y nueve.	Today is April 13th, 1979.

6. The preposition de is used to separate the month from the number:
   August 5 = el cinco de agosto.
7. With the exception of el primero, the cardinal numbers (dos, seis, veinte,etc.) are used in dates.
8. On before a date is expressed by el in Spanish.
9. Unlike English, which expresses the year in abbreviated form (1937 =nineteen thirty-seven), Spanish expresses the year fully:
   1937 = mil novecientos treinta y siete

   (one thousand nine hundred thirty-seven)

   Exercise: Write the following dates in Spanish words.
   Example:(on) June 19,1762

   el diecinueve de junio de mil setecientos sesenta y dos

   1. (on) July 1, 1929 _____________________________________
   2. (on) January 5, 1876 _____________________________________
   3. (on) October 30, 1684 _____________________________________
   4.  (on) November 28, 1513 _____________________________________

   Las Estaciones del Año

   la primavera	spring	el otoño	autumn (fall)
   el verano	summer	el invierno	winter

   En el verano generalmente hace calor.	It is generally warm in summer (thesummertime).
   La primavera es una estación muy bonita.	Spring (The springtime) is a very pretty season.

10. The names of the seasons in Spanish are generally preceded by the definite article (el or la).The seasons are masculine except for la primavera.

Exercise: Write the Spanish name of the season.

1. _____________________ Hace mucho frío.
2. _____________________ la estación que viene después de la primavera.
3. _____________________ Empieza el veinte y uno de septiembre.
4. _____________________ Termina el veinte de junio.