Spanish · A1 · Family moment
Your Special Dates in Spanish
Learn how to celebrate your child's milestones, birthdays, and the appearance of those precious first teeth in Spanish.
What you'll learn
- Identify and use ordinal numbers like first and second
- Say specific calendar dates in Spanish
- Express excitement about baby's physical milestones
Spanish phrases for your special dates
Hoy es tu primer cumpleaños.
Today is your first birthday.
'Primer' is the short form of 'primero', used before a masculine noun.
Hoy es tu segundo cumpleaños.
Today is your second birthday.
'Segundo' means second.
Tu cumpleaños es el primero de mayo.
Your birthday is on the first of May.
In Spanish, the first of the month is usually 'el primero'.
Tu cumpleaños es el dos de junio.
Your birthday is on the second of June.
For dates after the 1st, Spanish uses cardinal numbers (dos, tres, etc.) rather than ordinal ones.
Hoy es el tres de julio.
Today is the third of July.
Note the structure: 'el' + number + 'de' + month.
Hoy es el cuatro de agosto.
Today is the fourth of August.
Months are not capitalized in Spanish unless they start a sentence.
¡Tu primer diente está aquí!
Your first tooth is here!
'Diente' is the word for tooth.
¡Ese es tu segundo diente!
That is your second tooth!
'Ese' means 'that' when referring to a masculine object.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
Cumpleaños
Birthday
This word is always plural in form but acts as singular: 'el cumpleaños'.
Diente
Tooth
Masculine noun: 'el diente'.
Mes
Month
The plural form is 'meses'.
Dates in Spanish
Unlike English which uses 'October 1st', Spanish uses the structure 'el [number] de [month]'. Note that only the first day of the month uses an ordinal number (primero), while the rest use regular numbers.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The 1st | El primero de... | El primero de enero. |
| The 2nd and beyond | El [number] de... | El dos de marzo. |
Ordinal Numbers: First and Second
Ordinal numbers describe the order of things. 'Primero' (1st) changes to 'primer' when placed immediately before a masculine singular noun like 'cumpleaños' or 'diente'.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1st (before noun) | Primer | Mi primer hijo (My first son). |
| 2nd | Segundo | Mi segundo paso (My second step). |
More examples
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
When is your birthday?
A common question to ask other parents.
Es el cinco de septiembre.
It is the fifth of September.
Simple way to state a date.