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Spanish 101A

Spanish 101B

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The date in Spanish is reversed from the date in English. In Spanish we always begin with the day rather than the month:

Es el tres de marzo. It is the 3rd of March (March 3rd.)
Es el veintiuno de abril. It is the 21st of April (April 21st.)

The full date is written out:

"El ___(# date)____ de ___(month)____ de _____(year)"

For example: June 16, 1999 would be written as:

    "El dieciséis de junio de mil novecientos noventa y nueve"

  • The only date that doesn't use a number is the first of each month. We say el primero.
    • If I want to refer to April 1, 1996, I say "el primero de abril de mil novecientos noventa y seis."

El Año

In English we can break the year in half and say "Nineteen Ninety-nine" or "Seventeen seventy-six." Unfortunately in Spanish there is no shortcut to giving the year. We must start from the top:

  • mil novecientos noventa y seis [in other words, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six]
When we refer to the current century, it is the same as in English:
  • dos mil, dos mil uno, dos mil dos... (2000, 2001, 2002...)

Other helpful vocabulary:

Hoy Today
Ayer Yesterday
Mañana Tomorrow (also, Morning)
Anteayer Day before yesterday
Anoche last night