Learning the months in Spanish is one of the quickest early wins for any beginner: you need them to give your birthday, make plans and read a calendar. The good news is that most of them look very close to their English equivalents, so they are easy to recognise. This guide gives you all twelve months of the year in Spanish with pronunciation, the four seasons in Spanish, the simple grammar rule for writing dates, and the Roman story behind each name. When you are ready to use them for real, a Spanish course in Spain with SPRACHCAFFE is the fastest way to make them stick.
Learn Spanish Months and Seasons
How months work in Spanish
Three rules cover almost everything:
- First, the Spanish months are always written in lowercase, even at the start of a list, so it is enero, not Enero.
- Second, they are all masculine but take no definite article, so you never say "el enero".
- Third, to place something in a month you use the preposition en: En enero nieva means "In January it snows".
Learn those three points and you can use every month correctly.
The 12 months in Spanish
Here are all twelve months of the year in Spanish with a simple pronunciation guide. Only January looks very different from English; the rest are close cousins.
| English | Spanish | Pronunciation |
| January | enero | eh-NEH-roh |
| February | febrero | feh-BREH-roh |
| March | marzo | MAR-soh |
| April | abril | ah-BREEL |
| May | mayo | MAH-yoh |
| June | junio | HOO-nyoh |
| July | julio | HOO-lyoh |
| August | agosto | ah-GOHS-toh |
| September | septiembre | sep-TYEM-breh |
| October | octubre | ok-TOO-breh |
| November | noviembre | noh-VYEM-breh |
| December | diciembre | dee-SYEM-breh |
One pronunciation note: in most of Spain the z and the soft c are said like the "th" in "thin", so marzo sounds like MAR-thoh and diciembre like dee-THYEM-breh. Across Latin America they sound like a plain "s".
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The 4 Seasons in Spanish
Primavera | Spring:
Begins around March 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and September 22 or 23 in the Southern Hemisphere. Temperatures gradually rise and plants and trees bloom.
Verano | Summer:
Begins around June 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere. Temperatures are high and days are longer.
Otoño | Autumn:
Begins around September 22 or 23 in the Northern Hemisphere and March 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere, at the equinoxes. In autumn, temperatures drop and days gradually become shorter. Leaves fall from the trees or change color.
Invierno | Winter:
Winter begins around December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere, at the solstices. In winter, temperatures drop and the nights become longer. Some animals, such as bears, hibernate.
Where the Spanish month names come from
Most of the names reach back to the Roman calendar, honouring gods, emperors or simple ordinal numbers. The last four still carry their old Latin counts, which is why they no longer match their position in the modern year.
| Month | Origin |
|---|---|
| enero | From Latin Ianuarius, for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings. |
| febrero | From februarius, linked to the month's purification festivals. |
| marzo | From martius, honouring Mars, god of war and spring. |
| abril | Probably from aperire, "to open", for the opening of spring blossom. |
| mayo | From maius, after Maia, goddess of growth. |
| junio | From junius, likely for Juno, goddess of marriage and family. |
| julio | Renamed for Julius Caesar; it was quintilis, the fifth month. |
| agosto | Renamed for Augustus Caesar; it was sextilis, the sixth month. |
| septiembre | From septem, "seven", once the seventh month. |
| octubre | From octo, "eight". |
| noviembre | From novem, "nine". |
| diciembre | From decem, "ten". |
Summary
The months in Spanish are enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septiembre, octubre, noviembre and diciembre. Write them in lowercase, treat them as masculine with no article, and use en to say when something happens. The four seasons in Spanish are la primavera, el verano, el otoño and el invierno, and they flip in the Southern Hemisphere. Learn the twelve names, practise the pronunciation, and the next step is simply to use them with native speakers on a Spanish course in Spain with SPRACHCAFFE.
FAQ
No. Unlike English, months and seasons are written in lowercase in Spanish, so it is "enero" and "verano", not "Enero" or "Verano", unless they begin a sentence.
Use "el" plus the number plus "de" plus the month, as in "el 5 de marzo". The day comes before the month, and cardinal numbers are used rather than ordinals.
They are la primavera (spring), el verano (summer), el otoño (autumn) and el invierno (winter). Like months, seasons take lowercase spelling.
Both come from Latin, so the names share the same Roman roots, which is why enero, febrero and marzo are easy for English speakers to recognise.
Using months and dates in real plans makes them stick, which a Spanish course in Spain provides.
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