"¿Cuándo es Tu Cumpleaños?": The Months and Dates en Español
Many of us have sung that catchy tune ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! (Happy Birthday!) at one point or another, but how many of us actually know how to ask a teacher, friend, or family member their birthday in spanish? With this lesson, you can learn how!
First, let's talk about los meses, or the months. In Spanish speaking countries, many of the months sound the same as they do in english, actually. A major difference is that, when writing the months out, they are not capitalized as they are in english.
Let’s go over a few Spanish pronunciation rules:
- v’s sound like b’s
- e’s sound like a’s
- a’s sound like “ah”
- j’s soundlike h’s
- i’s sound like e’s
- d’s sound like “th”
See the quizlet flashcards below to practice these letter pronunciations!
First, let's talk about los meses, or the months. In Spanish speaking countries, many of the months sound the same as they do in english, actually. A major difference is that, when writing the months out, they are not capitalized as they are in english.
Let’s go over a few Spanish pronunciation rules:
- v’s sound like b’s
- e’s sound like a’s
- a’s sound like “ah”
- j’s soundlike h’s
- i’s sound like e’s
- d’s sound like “th”
See the quizlet flashcards below to practice these letter pronunciations!
Now, let's go through the months and their pronunciations:
Note: Whenever there’s an ‘r’ in any of the months (in spanish, only), slightly roll it. Not a whole lot, but just a little- a little latino pizazz. Check the youtube video at the end of the lesson if you can’t roll your r’s.
- The syllables that are in all caps are the ones that have emphasis on them, notice that!
DRILL YOURSELF! Cover the English translation with your hand and practice the spanish one. Say what month it is in english and check to see if you got it. Do it until you can get all 12 twice.
Next, let’s go through the numbers. For the purpose of this lesson, I’ll only go through days 1-31 and how to say them in spanish.
Hey! Did you notice how in 21, there are essentially two numbers there? You can see both veinte and uno, right? Well, the spanish word for ‘and’ is simply ‘y’. To make things simpler, the good ol language makers decided to put all three words together, turning the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ for convenience. Think of it this way: veinte+y+uno= veintiuno. Apply this to numbers 21-29. What would 22 be? How about 24? 27?
30. treinta (TRAIN-tah)
31. treintaiuno (TRAIN-tay-u-noh)
Alrighty! Now, you’ve got the months and the days. You’re ready right??
Wrong. You need the basic question! How do we actually say “When is your birthday?”
Simple! You know that ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! means “Happy Birthday”, right?
Cumpleaños = birthday. Check.
When = Cuando. Check.
Is = Es. Check.
Tu = You/Your. Check
Let’s put it together: Cuando (when) es (is) tu (your) cumpleaños (birthday)
¿Cuando es tu cumpleaños?
Now, you know how to ask your friends their birthday in Spanish!
But, how do you answer this question when asked?
Also very simple!
You know your months, you know your days. The Spanish word for ‘of’ is ‘de’- add the three together!
seis de noviembre.
You’re all set!
Note: Whenever there’s an ‘r’ in any of the months (in spanish, only), slightly roll it. Not a whole lot, but just a little- a little latino pizazz. Check the youtube video at the end of the lesson if you can’t roll your r’s.
- The syllables that are in all caps are the ones that have emphasis on them, notice that!
- enero = January - pronounced: en-EH-roh
- febrero = February - pronounced: feb-REH-oh
- marzo = March - pronounced: MART-soh
- abril = April - pronounced: ah-BRILL
- mayo = May - pronounced: MY-oh (not like the stuff you might put on a sandwich! MY not MAY)
- junio = June - pronounced: WHO-nee-oh
- julio = July - pronounced: WHO-lee-oh
- agosto = August - pronounced: ah-GHOST-oh (¡Cuidado! Careful! Don’t say ah-gust-oh, say ah-ghost-oh)
- septiembre = September - pronounced: sept-tee-EM-bray
- octubre = October - pronounced: ock-TOO-bray
- noviembre = November - pronounced: no-bee-EM-bray
- diciembre = December - pronounced: dee-cee-EM-bray
DRILL YOURSELF! Cover the English translation with your hand and practice the spanish one. Say what month it is in english and check to see if you got it. Do it until you can get all 12 twice.
Next, let’s go through the numbers. For the purpose of this lesson, I’ll only go through days 1-31 and how to say them in spanish.
- primero (pree-MEH-roh)
- segundo (seh-GOON-tho)
- tercero (tear-SARE-oh)
- cuatro (KWAH-troh)
- cinco (SEEN-koh)
- seis (sehs)
- siete (see-EH-teh)
- ocho (OH-cho)
- nueve (nu-EH-beh)
- diez (THEE-ess)
- once (OHN-ceh)
- doce (THO-ceh)
- trece (TREH-ceh)
- catorce (kah-TOR-ceh)
- quince (KEEN-ceh)
- dieciseis (thee-ess-ee-SEHS)
- diecisiete (thee-ess-ee-see-EH-teh)
- dieciocho (thee-ess-ee-OH-cho)
- diecinueve (thee-ess-ee-nu-EH-beh)
- veinte (BAIN-teh)
- veintiuno (BAIN-tee-u-noh)
Hey! Did you notice how in 21, there are essentially two numbers there? You can see both veinte and uno, right? Well, the spanish word for ‘and’ is simply ‘y’. To make things simpler, the good ol language makers decided to put all three words together, turning the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ for convenience. Think of it this way: veinte+y+uno= veintiuno. Apply this to numbers 21-29. What would 22 be? How about 24? 27?
30. treinta (TRAIN-tah)
31. treintaiuno (TRAIN-tay-u-noh)
Alrighty! Now, you’ve got the months and the days. You’re ready right??
Wrong. You need the basic question! How do we actually say “When is your birthday?”
Simple! You know that ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! means “Happy Birthday”, right?
Cumpleaños = birthday. Check.
When = Cuando. Check.
Is = Es. Check.
Tu = You/Your. Check
Let’s put it together: Cuando (when) es (is) tu (your) cumpleaños (birthday)
¿Cuando es tu cumpleaños?
Now, you know how to ask your friends their birthday in Spanish!
But, how do you answer this question when asked?
Also very simple!
You know your months, you know your days. The Spanish word for ‘of’ is ‘de’- add the three together!
seis de noviembre.
You’re all set!
Comments (7)
Log in to post a comment.