Months in Spanish
All twelve months from enero to diciembre, with audio, the spelling and preposition rules beginners get wrong, how to write a date in Spanish, and the seasons. Tap any speaker to hear it.
The three rules
- No capital letters. Write enero, not "Enero" — only at the start of a sentence.
- Use en for a whole month. en marzo = in March. For a date use el 3 de marzo. El marzo is wrong.
- All months are masculine. un enero frío, el próximo agosto.
The twelve months, in order
Only septiembre, octubre, noviembre and diciembre keep an obvious English shape — the rest are worth hearing before you say them.
- enero — JanuaryFrom Ianuarius, the month of Janus. Say eh-NEH-roh.
- febrero — FebruaryTwo r-sounds to keep apart: feh-BREH-roh.
- marzo — MarchMonth of Mars — the z is a soft s in Latin America.
- abril — AprilStress the last syllable: ah-BREEL.
- mayo — MaySame root as English May; the y sounds like an English y.
- junio — JuneThe j is a throaty h: HOO-nyoh.
- julio — JulyAlmost the twin of junio: HOO-lyoh.
- agosto — AugustNo h and no u sound at the start: ah-GOS-toh.
- septiembre — SeptemberAlso written setiembre in parts of Latin America.
- octubre — OctoberNote the b, not a v: ok-TOO-breh.
- noviembre — NovemberThe v sounds close to a soft b.
- diciembre — DecemberThe c before i is a soft s (or th in Spain).
How to write and say dates
Months and the seasons
These are the northern-hemisphere months; in Argentina, Chile or Peru the seasons are flipped, so julio is winter.
- la primavera — springmarzo – mayo
- el verano — summerjunio – agosto
- el otoño — autumn / fallseptiembre – noviembre
- el invierno — winterdiciembre – febrero
Useful phrases with the months
- ¿En qué mes estamos?What month is it?
- Estamos en abril.It's April.
- Mi cumpleaños es el 12 de agosto.My birthday is on 12 August.
- Nos vamos de vacaciones en julio.We're going on holiday in July.
- El curso empieza a principios de septiembre.The course starts in early September.
- A finales de mayo hace calor.At the end of May it's hot.
- Hoy es el 1 de enero de 2026.Today is 1 January 2026.
- El mes que viene voy a México.Next month I'm going to Mexico.
- El mes pasado llovió mucho.Last month it rained a lot.
Frequently asked questions
Are months capitalised in Spanish?
No — enero, febrero, marzo stay lowercase everywhere except at the start of a sentence. The same rule applies to the days of the week.
Do I say en marzo or el marzo?
En marzo for the whole month; el 3 de marzo for a specific date. El marzo on its own is never used.
How do I say "month" and "monthly"?
El mes (plural los meses) and mensual / mensualmente.
Which months trip learners up most?
Junio and julio — learn them together and stress the difference between -nio and -lio. Also watch agosto, which has no h sound.
Related free Spanish guides
No account needed — these reference guides are the same material used inside the tutor.
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