
Spanish months are used to indicate the number of months in a year. There are 12 months in the Spanish calendar, but some of them have different names.
The audio is from a native Spanish speaker. You can listen to each month of the year with audio from a native Spanish speaker.
This is a great way to practice your listening skills and learn more about the language.
The twelve months in Spanish
Spanish | English | Audio |
---|---|---|
Enero | January | |
Febrero | February | |
Marzo | March | |
Abril | April | |
Mayo | May | |
Junio | June | |
Julio | July | |
Agosto | August | |
Septiembre | September | |
Octubre | October | |
Noviembre | November | |
Diciembre | December |
You may have noticed that the months in Spanish are spelled and sound very similar to English, so it will be a piece of cake for you!
Spanish | English | Audio |
---|---|---|
Yo nací el 20 de agosto de 2006. | I was born on August 20, 2006. | |
El 19 de abril se celebra el día de la independencia de Venezuela. | April 19 is celebrated as Venezuela’s Independence Day. | |
En julio finalizan las clases. | Classes end in July. | |
Enero es el mes más frio en Chile. | January is the coldest month in Chile. | |
El 6 de enero se celebra el día de los reyes magos. Los niños quieren dulces. | On January 6, the day of the Three Kings is celebrated. Children want candy. | |
La temporada de lluvias va de mayo a noviembre. | The rainy season is between May and November. | |
Las clases de mi hijo van desde septiembre hasta octubre y luego desde enero hasta julio. | My son’s classes run from September through October and then from January through June. |
Key points of the months of the year
Why are the names of the months similar in Spanish and English?
The Roman Empire conquered Western Europe in the early 4th century. The Roman Empire had a huge influence on languages and cultures in Western Europe.
The English and Spanish languages are similar because they both share a Latin origin. This makes it easier for speakers of one language to learn the other language, as they already share many similarities.
Grammar of the months of the year in Spanish
All months of the year are masculine, usually the definite article “el” is not used, except for the person of specific dates, and then the “el” goes before the number and not the month. For example, “el 5 de febrero”.
You are used to capitalize months, but unlike English, month names are not capitalized in Spanish (except at the beginning of a sentence or after a period).
Origins of the Months’ Names
Enero
January is the time for new beginnings and transitions. It’s also in honor of Janus, the Roman goddess of gates, doors, and other beginnings.
Febrero
The month of February was added by the Roman emperor Pompilius. He implemented this celebration every year, known as Februa.
It was intended to appease the souls of the dead with offerings.
Marzo
Mars was the Roman god of war and is also the namesake for both a planet and our very own month of March.
Abril
Although it is not clear where the name of this month comes from, it is identified with the term ‘afros’, meaning foam, from which Venus emerged.
It is the month dedicated to fertility and is also related to spring.
Mayo
Month in which the Roman elders were honored for their work in protecting the people. The word has its origin in the Latin ‘majorum’ (elders).
In addition, another origin is marked with the goddess Maya, the wife of Vulcan.
Junio
The queen of the gods, Juno, honors the name of this month. Representative of motherhood for the Romans, she also honors one of the founders of Rome, Lucius Junius Brutus.
Julio
July honors the considered the greatest and best ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, since he was born in this month.
Agosto
Another month that honors one of the Roman emperors, in this Augustus. This month was chosen to coincide with the date on which he defeated Cleopatra and Marcus Aurelius.
Septiembre
September is the first of the names that honors a number. At the beginning it was placed in seventh position, hence its name.
Octubre
It comes from the Latin word for “eighth” in honor of the time of Romulus, founder of Rome.
Noviembre
Like September and October, its name comes from its original position in the ninth month of the original Roman calendar.
At first it had more days until it was modified by Augustus to 30.
Diciembre
It is known as the tenth month in the original Roman calendar. When two more months were included, it became the twelfth and last month of the year.
How to Write Dates in Spanish?
To write the date in Spanish the order is different than in English. The pattern is day + month + year:
The order is day, month, year
The order recommended by academic spelling is day, month, year (15 de octubre de 1960). In this work the order month, day, year, which is typical of the United States and has spread to other Anglo-Saxon countries, is discouraged (October 15, 1951).
Letters and numbers
This is the most common form, we will see the combination of letters and numbers (4 de julio de 2020), the month always with lowercase initial and without omitting the two prepositions “de”.
Exceptionally with letters only
It is usually written only with letters in important documents, notarial acts, public deeds, checks, etc. For example: “Doce de agosto de dos mil veinte.” (August 12, 2020.).
One or first of the month
When we say the first day of the month it is possible to use the ordinal number, “primero de marzo” (March 1), or the cardinal number, “uno de marzo”. (March 1.).
Dates indicated only with digits
When using digits, the day, month and year are separated by dashes, slashes or periods: “3-7-1999”, “7/4/1990”, “13.12.12”. The year can appear with the four digits “1/4/2009”.
Scientific documents
For scientific documents, the system established by ISO may be chosen, which follows the order year, month, day, with the numbers separated by dashes and adding a zero if necessary: 2020-02-22. This format is used for scientific documents that circulate internationally.
Years: no period or space
When writing the year, do not write any signs or spaces between its digits (2000 and not 2,000, 2,021, or 2,000).
Combination of digits and letters
When dates are expressed with a combination of digits (the day) and letters (the month), it is valid to write the result with a hyphen (10-O, 21-M, etc.), but nowadays it is most common to suppress it: 10O, 21M.
Spanish months Chart
