How to Write the Date in Spanish

Basic Form

Put the day first. In Spanish, unlike in English (United States), you write the date by putting the day first, followed by the month and then the year. The numerals can be separated by periods, dashes, or slashes. For example, if you wanted to write the date December 30, 2017 on a document, you might write "30/12/2017" or "30-12-2017."

Write the date out in long form. Use the same "day, month, year" format when you're writing the date out. The day and year are represented by numerals, while the month is spelled out. The elements of the date are separated by the word "de," translated as "of." For example, if you wanted to write the date "October 3, 2017" in Spanish, you would write "3 de octubre de 2017" (literal translation: third of October of 2017). There's no need for a comma in Spanish as there is in English.

Don't capitalize the name of the month. In Spanish, unlike in English and some other languages, there is no need to capitalize the month name. When you're writing the date, make sure the month is all lower-case. For example, you would want to write "3 de octubre de 2017" and not "3 de Octubre de 2017."

Write "primero" for the first of the month. Typically when you're writing the long form of a date in Spanish, you'll use a numeral for the day. This changes with the first of the month, when the word "primero" (meaning "first") typically is used. For example, you could write January 1st as "primero de enero." If you wanted to write the first of the month with a numeral, you would use a "1" followed by a superscripted "o," like this: 1º de enero de 2017.

Abbreviate the date using letters and numbers. Each month of the year has a three-letter shortened form in Spanish. Occasionally you will see the date written with this numerals for the day and year with this three-letter abbreviation for the month. For each month, the three-letter abbreviation used is the first three letters of the name of that month. For example, you might see the date "July 11, 2017" abbreviated in Spanish as "11-jul-2017." You could also write the date like "11/7/2017."

Vocabulary

Write the months in Spanish. If you want to write the long form of a date, you need to know and be able to spell the names of each of the months in Spanish. Knowing how to spell the names of the months also is essential to recognize the abbreviated form of the name. January is enero. February is febrero. March is marzo. April is abril. May is mayo. June is junio. July is julio. August is agosto. September is septiembre. October is octubre. November is noviembre. December is diciembre.

Learn the words for numbers in Spanish. It's true that you don't need to write out the word for the day of the week when writing the date in Spanish. But understanding how the words are spelled will help you when you're reading a written date aloud. The first day of the month can be written as "uno" ("one"), "el primer día" ("the first day"), or "el primero" ("the first"). Two is dos. Three is tres. Four is cuatro. Five is cinco. Six is seis. Seven is siete. Eight is ocho. Nine is nueve. Ten is diez.

Learn the words for numbers after 10. Since there are as many as 31 days in a month, you can't stop learning the numbers at 10. In Spanish, the numbers 11 through 15 have their own names, while the names for the rest of the numbers follow a pattern. If you don't already know number words in Spanish, reading and writing dates can be a good way to practice.

Write the year in full if you want to practice your skills. Just as you don't typically have to write out the day in Spanish, you certainly shouldn't ever have a need to write out the year in words. But it's still helpful to understand it so you'll say the date correctly. Spell the year out in thousands and hundreds. For example, the year "1900" would be spelled out in Spanish as "mil novecientos," which translates literally to "one thousand, nine hundred." There is no Spanish equivalent to the phrase "nineteen hundred," which is how you would say it in English. Follow with the tens and ones after the thousands and hundreds. For example, you would write out the year "1752" in Spanish as "mil setecientos cincuenta y dos."

Related Phrases

Spell out the days of the week. Sometimes when you're writing a date, you also want to include the day of the week that date falls on. As with the months of the year, the days of the week are not capitalized in Spanish as they are in English. Sunday is domingo. Monday is lunes. Tuesday is martes. Wednesday is miércoles. Thursday is jueves. Friday is viernes. Saturday is sábado.

Refer to days of the week without dates. When you're writing about a particular date, or especially about several dates, you may find it more convenient to use other words such as "today" or "tomorrow." These words make your writing seem more natural and easy to understand. For "today," write "hoy." Yesterday is ayer, while "tomorrow" in Spanish is "mañana." The word for "week" in Spanish is "semana." If you want to write "the weekend," you would write "el fin de semana." Refer to "this week" as "esta semana" and "last week" as "la semana pasada." If you want to write about "next week," use the phrase "la semana que viene," which literally translated means "the week that comes."

Mention the season. When you're writing about a date, you also might find it relevant to talk about the season in which that date falls. Keep in mind that south of the equator, the seasons are the opposite of those north of the equator. Write "la primavera" to refer to spring. Use "el verano" to write about the summer. Write "el otoño" when writing about autumn. Use "el invierno" when you're writing about winter.

Ask about the date in Spanish. The question "¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?" is used when you need to know what the date is. For example, if you were writing a story in Spanish, you might need to have a character ask the date. You can also ask "¿Qué día es hoy?" You typically use this question, which means "what day is today?", when you want to know what day of the week it is. But it also can be used in some circumstances to ask for the date, similarly to English.