Months of the year in Spanish
Enero, el primer mes; en febrero, frío un montón … – keep reading to learn the song.
First things first! 🙂 Here we will learn the months of the year in Spanish, but also some sayings about them. But these sayings are sometimes about weather, so maybe they are just nonsense if you compare them to the weather in your country or to the weather in other Spanish-speaking countries apart from Spain.
The “Spanish Year” starts the first of January. No problem here, unlike when we learn the days of the week in Spanish.
Months of the Year in Spanish.
Notice that in Spanish we write the first letter of the names of the months of the year with a lower case letter. In the next list I use the upper case letters just because they begin a “phrase”. For example I would write “En enero hace frío” – It is cold in January. In that sentence you can see that “enero” begins with a small letter.
- Enero – January. It has 31 days.
- Febrero – February. It has 28 days, except in leap years when it has 29 days.
- Marzo – March. 31 Days.
- Abril – April. 30 days.
- Mayo – May. 31 days.
- Junio – June. 30 days.
- Julio – July. 31 days.
- Agosto – August. 31 days.
- Septiembre – September. 30 days.
- Octubre – October. 31 days.
- Noviembre – November. 30 days.
- Diciembre – December. 31 days.
Treinta días trae Septiembre con Abril, Junio y Noviembre. Los demás con treinta y uno, menos Febrero el loco que sólo tiene veintiocho.
Thirty days brings September with April, June and November. The others with thirty-one, except February the mad who is only twenty-eight.
The Children’s Song of the months of the year in Spanish
Enero, primer mes | January, first month
En febrero, frío en los pies | In February, cold in the feet
En marzo, funde la nieve | In March, snow melts
Y en abril, llueve que llueve | And in April, it rains and rains
En mayo, florece el campo | In May, the field blooms
Y en junio, fin de curso | And in June, end of school year
En julio, mucho sol | In July, a lot of sun
Y en agosto, ¡qué calor! | And in August, how hot!
En septiembre, la cosecha | In September, the harvest
Y en octubre, hojas secas | And in October, dry leaves
En noviembre, las castañas | In November, chestnuts
Y en diciembre, un buen pesebre. | And in December, a good trough.
¡Enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio y agosto,
septiembre, octubre, noviembre, diciembre! | January, February, March, April, May, June, July and August, September, October, November, December!
One Common Sayings in Spain about each month of the year
Next one or two Spanish sayings about each of the months of the year.
“En enero bufanda capa y sombrero“: We say In January scarf cape and hat in Spain because this month is usually cold and windy.
↪ “La cuesta de enero“: A literal translation would be the January uphill, but its English equivalent is the post-holiday budget crunch, caused by excessive spending at Christmas time and New Year’s Eve.
“En febrero un día al sol y otro al brasero“: In February one day in the sun and another in the brazier, because the weather in February in Spain usually changes quite a lot from one day to the other.
“Sol de marzo hiere como mazo“: March sun hurts like a mallet, because the not very high temperature can make us not realize of the sun hitting us.
“En abril aguas mil“: In April a thousand of water (it means that it rains a lot), that is what we expect here in Spain. It is not a good thing that little rain falls in April.
“Como agua de mayo” (like rain water in may) or “Agua de mayo, pan para todo el año” (Rain water in May, bread for the whole year). This is because the crops sown in winter and early spring, mainly cereals, need these May rains to develop fully and give the best production.
↪ Then we have a common Spanish expression that says “como agua de mayo“. We say it when we get something that will help us a lot. For example, imagine that the company I work for gives me extra pay that I didn’t expect, but for whatever reason I needed that extra money for something. Then I can say “este dinero extra me viene como agua de mayo” (this extra money comes to me like rain in May) meaning that I needed it and it’s great to have it.
“En junio, hoz en puño“: In June, sickle in fist, because is time to reap the grain crops (es la época de la siega del cereal – It is the time of the cereal harvest).
“Julio caliente quema al más valiente“: Hot July burns the bravest, don’t forget to put on your sunscreen (sunscreen – protector solar).
“En agosto frío al rostro“: In August cold to the face, because mainly at night temperature begins to be lower than in the previous weeks.
“En septiembre, bebe el vino añejo y deja en paz el mosto“: In September, drink the old wine and leave the must alone, because you need to empty the barrels to put the new wine of this year.
↪ “¡Déjame en paz!”: Leave me alone!. I don’t know how this sounds exactly in English, but in Spanish it’s a strong-sounding expression. You’re a little angry, or maybe quite a bit.
“En octubre el hogar de leña cubre“: In October cover the home with firewood, because you won’t hace too much time to keep collecting firewood to keep the house warm during the cold months.
“Del veinte de noviembre en adelante el invierno ya es constante“: From November 20 onwards winter is already constant. Yes, in Spain we can have some nice days until that day, but then you must expect a lot of cold days in a row.
“En diciembre se hielan las cañas y se asan las castañas“: In December the canes freeze and the chestnuts are roasted, cold days even freeze the water of the ponds, but hot roasted chestnuts warm us up and cheer us up.
So how’s your year going? Are you improving your Spanish learning to take it to the level you always wanted? Check it out in the following article to see if you already know everything I tell there.