Days, Months and Telling Time in Spanish: Full Guide

English speakers instinctively write "Lunes" and "Enero" with capital letters — and it's wrong every single time. In Spanish, days of the week and months are lowercase, always, unless they start a sentence. That one habit marks you as a beginner faster than almost anything else. The good news: days, months, dates, and clock time in Spanish run on just a few tidy rules, and once you have them, you can make plans, read a calendar, and catch a train.

The short version: Days (lunes) and months (enero) are lowercase. "On Monday" is el lunes; "on Mondays" is los lunes. Dates use plain numbers: el 5 de mayo. For time, it's es la una for one o'clock but son las dos for everything else, plus y media and menos cuarto.

The days of the week

There are seven, they're all masculine, and the Spanish week starts on Monday, not Sunday. Remember: no capital letters.

Two carry a written accent: miércoles and sábado. Notice that five of the seven days end in -s already, which matters for the next point.

"On Monday" vs "on Mondays"

Spanish doesn't use a word for "on" with days. Instead, the article does the work. Use singular el for a specific day and plural los for a recurring one:

• el lunes — on Monday (this coming one)
• los lunes — on Mondays (every week)
• Tengo clase el jueves. — I have class on Thursday.
• Trabajo los sábados. — I work on Saturdays.

Here's the subtle part: the days that end in -s (lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes) don't change spelling in the plural — only the article does. So "Mondays" is los lunes, not "los luneses". Only sábado and domingo add an -s: los sábados, los domingos.

The months of the year

Same rule as days: lowercase. They're close enough to English that you'll recognize most on sight.

Saying the date

Spanish dates follow the order day + de + month, and — unlike English — they use plain cardinal numbers, not ordinals. "May 5th" is el 5 de mayo, literally "the 5 of May". You say cinco, not "fifth".

• el 5 de mayo — May 5th
• el 23 de octubre — October 23rd
• Hoy es el 14 de febrero. — Today is February 14th.
• Mi cumpleaños es el 30 de junio. — My birthday is June 30th.

The one common exception is the first of the month, where many speakers use el primero de (the first): el primero de enero. Saying el uno de enero is also accepted and increasingly common. To add the full year: el 5 de mayo de 2024 — note the second de before the year.

Watch out: to ask the date, use ¿Qué día es hoy? (What day is it today?) or ¿A cuántos estamos? (What's the date?). The answer is simple: Hoy es lunes, 5 de mayo.

Telling time: the es la / son las split

This is the rule that separates people who "studied some Spanish" from people who can actually tell time. To say what o'clock it is, Spanish uses the verb ser — but it agrees with the number of hours:

• Es la una. — It's one o'clock. (singular, because "one" is singular)
• Son las dos. — It's two o'clock. (plural for everything from two onward)

So one o'clock is the only hour that takes es la. Every other hour takes son las: son las tres, son las siete, son las doce. Getting this backwards — "son las una" — is the number-one time mistake.

Minutes: y cuarto, y media, menos cuarto

For minutes past the hour, add y plus the number. Spanish has handy set phrases for the quarter and half:

Once you pass the half hour, Spanish counts toward the next hour using menos (minus): 3:45 is "four minus a quarter". In much of Latin America you'll also hear faltan diez para las cuatro ("ten to four") or simply the digital style son las tres cuarenta y cinco. All are correct.

Morning, afternoon, and night

To mark AM/PM, Spanish adds de la mañana, de la tarde, or de la noche:

• Son las nueve de la mañana. — It's 9 in the morning.
• Son las cuatro de la tarde. — It's 4 in the afternoon.
• Son las diez de la noche. — It's 10 at night.

Two useful extras: el mediodía (noon) and la medianoche (midnight). And to ask the time, it's always singular: ¿Qué hora es? — literally "What hour is it?"

Putting it together

To say when something happens, use a la / a las (at): La clase es a las tres. (Class is at three.) Nos vemos a la una. (See you at one.) Notice it mirrors the es la / son las split — singular a la only for one o'clock, a las for everything else.

Frequently asked questions

Are days and months capitalized in Spanish?

No. Days like lunes and months like enero are written in lowercase, unlike English. You only capitalize them when they begin a sentence. This is one of the most common errors English speakers make in writing.

Why is it es la una but son las dos?

The verb ser agrees with the number of hours. "One" is singular, so you say es la una. Two and every hour after it are plural, so you say son las dos, son las tres, and so on. Only one o'clock uses the singular form.

How do you say a date like May 5th in Spanish?

Use the pattern day + de + month with a plain number: el 5 de mayo. Spanish uses cardinal numbers (cinco), not ordinals, for dates. The main exception is the first of the month, often said as el primero de.

How do I say times after the half hour, like 3:45?

Spanish counts toward the next hour using menos (minus), so 3:45 becomes son las cuatro menos cuarto — "four minus a quarter". You can also use the digital style son las tres cuarenta y cinco, which is common and always understood.

What's the difference between el lunes and los lunes?

El lunes means "on Monday", pointing to one specific day. Los lunes means "on Mondays", describing something that happens every week. Spanish uses the article to carry the meaning of "on", so you never add a separate word for it.