Using Dates in Spanish.

The standard forms…

In this lesson we’ll be looking at the date formats that are recommended by the Real Academia Española (RAE) , which is the official organisation charged with overseeing the Spanish language.

Written form

Here’s the standard written form as recommended by the RAE:

• 15 de enero de 2006
• 17 de septiembre de 2017

However, you will also see:

• 15 de enero del 2006
• 17 de septiembre del 2017

Notice how we use ‘del‘ (de + el) before the year in this second example.  This form is particularly common when talking about years from 2000 onwards and also when talking about the years 1 -> 1000 A.D.  However, don’t get too obsessed with the difference between these two very similar date formats.

Pronunciación

When speaking we use the article ‘el‘ before the date. This should be used in the written form too, but is often omitted.

• el 15 de enero de 2006
• el 17 de septiembre de 2017
• el 15 de enero del 2006
• el 17 de septiembre del 2017

Cardinal not ordinal

When writing or speaking the date in Spanish we use the cardinal form (uno, dos, tres) of the number rather than the ordinal form (primero, segundo). Don’t fall into the English habit of using the ordinal forms!

Correcto: El día dos de enero
Incorrecto: El segundo de enero

Correcto: El día trece de enero
Incorrecto: El decimotercero de enero

Examples

• La nueva tienda se inaugurará el día siete de noviembre.
  The new store will be inaugurated on November 7th. 
• Su cumpleaños es el día catorce de septiembre.
  His birthday is September 14th.  

In normal conversation, most native speakers will drop the word ‘día’:

• La nueva tienda se inaugurará el siete de noviembre.
  The new store will be inaugurated on November 7th. 
• Su cumpleaños es el catorce de septiembre.
  His birthday is September 14th.  

Pronouncing the year

Unlike English, the year in Spanish is pronounced exactly the same as the equivalent number:

• Fuimos a Perú en el 2006.
  We went to Peru in 2006.
• Nací en el año 1972.
  I was born in 1972.

Dates in numbers

When the Spanish use numbers to abbreviate dates, they use the same format as the U.K, not the U.S.

dd/mm/yyyy

So, in Spain:

02/09/1982 – 2nd September 1982
12/01/2016 – 12th January 2016

11-S, 23-F…

The Spanish press has its own short form for referring to particularly momentous dates.

They use the day of the month with the first letter of the name of the month.  Some well-known (at least in Spain) dates are:

23-F

The date of an attempted coup in Spain.  On February 23rd, 1981, Lieutenant colonel Antonio Tejero Molina entered the Spanish parliament with a small group of armed men and held the attending diputados (members of parliament) hostage for a number of tense hours.

• Tejero nunca ha contado en público su versión del 23F.
  Tejero has never talked publicly about his version of the events of February 23rd. 

11-S

September 11th, the date of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

• Hoy es el décimo aniversario del 11-S
  Today is the tenth anniversary of the 11th of September attacks. 

When elections are called the press will often also use this same short format to refer to the date. You might read the following in Spanish newspaper or news website:

• Les ofrecemos los resultados oficiales del referéndum del 1-O.
  We offer you the official results from the October 1st referendum.

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Spanish phrases

For simple Spanish phrases that you can start to use straightaway, visit our section, Basic Spanish Phrases.