Mes

Today's word is: "mes" = month

In Spanish, “mes” is a masculine noun of Latin origin which means month.

• Este mes tiene treinta y un días (this month has thirty one days);

The noun, “mes” is a term also used often to refer to a monthly payment/ instalment.

• El mes de alquiler del piso lo pago el día uno (I pay the monthly flat rent on the first day of the month);

The noun, “mes” is a term used to refer to a woman's period.

• A veces lo paso muy mal cuando tengo el mes (sometimes I feel really bad when I have my period);

The noun, “mes” is a term used to express the age of people or things (usually when less than a year old).

• ¿Cuántos meses tiene el bebé (how many months old is the baby?);
• Ese bebé tiene siete meses (that baby is seven months old);

A related word is the feminine noun “mensualidad” which is often used to refer to a month's salary/ monthly pay/ monthly instalment.

• Mañana voy a cobrar mi primera mensualidad (tomorrow I am going to receive my first monthly pay packet/ cheque);
• El coche lo pago en 24 mensualidades (I am paying for the car in 24 monthly instalments);

Also related is the describing word/ adjective “mensual”, which means monthly , and is used as in

• Pagamos una cuota mensual de 50 euros (we pay a 50 Euro monthly fee);

The names of the months* in Spanish

Month/ Mes		Month/ Mes
January	enero	July	julio
February	febrero	August	agosto
March	marzo	September	septiembre
April	abril	October	octubre
May	mayo	November	noviembre
June	junio	December	diciembre

7. Some expressions with the word “mes” are:

• A finales de mes (at the end of the month/ in the last few days of the month);
  • A finales de mes cobro la nómina (I get my salary/ wage packet at the end of the month);
• A mediados de mes (at mid month/ half way through the month);
  • A mediados de mes solemos pagar el alquiler del piso (we usually pay the rental of the flat half way through the month);
• A primeros de mes (at the beginning of the month/ on the first days of the month);
  • A primeros de mes suelo ir de compras (at the beginning of the month I usually go shopping);
• A últimos de mes (at the end of the month/ in the last few days of the month);
  • A últimos de mes cobro la nómina (I get my salary/ wage packet at the end of the month);
• Al mes (after a month/ at the end of one month)
  • Al mes de vivir en España, Peter dominaba el español (one month after living in Spain Peter was fluent in Spanish);
• Alcalde del mes de enero (someone who, being new on a job, displays a great deal of enthusiasm for the job)
• Antes de fin de mes (before the end of the month/ by the end of the month);
  • Tengo que entregar este trabajo antes de fin de mes (I have to hand over this work before the end of the month);
• Antes de un mes (within a month);
• Llegar a fin de mes (to make ends meet):
  • Nos cuesta mucho llegar a fin the mes (we struggle to make ends meet);
• Mes anomalístico (anomalistic month);
• Mes mayor (the last month of a woman's pregnancy);
• Meses mayores (the last months in a woman's pregnancy/ the months before harvest – typically, April, May and June);
• Mes lunar periódico (lunar sidereal month);
• Mes lunar sinódico (lunar synodic month);
• Mes solar astronómico (time taken by the Sun, in its apparent motion, to pass through a Zodiac sign);
• El mes pasado (last month);
  • El mes pasado fui a España (last month I went to Spain);
• El mes que viene (next month);
  • El mes que viene quiero is a España (next month I want to go to Spain);
• Hace meses (it is months/ it happened a long time ago);
  • Hace meses que no veo a tu hermana (it is months since I last saw your sister);
• Hace un mes/ dos meses** (it is a month ago/ two months ago);
  • Hace dos meses que no veo a tu hermana (it is two months since I last saw your sister);
• Tener xx meses (to be xx months old);
  • Ese bebé tiene 13 meses (that baby is 13 months old);
• Una vez/ dos veces*** al mes (once/ twice a month);

Notes

*Please note that, normally, the names of the months are not capitalised in Spanish.

**Replace “dos” with another number to indicate a different period. For example “hace tres meses que no veo a tu hermana” (it is three months since I last saw your sister).

***Replace “dos” with another number to indicate a different frequency. For example “tres veces al mes” (thrice a month).

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "mes" in the YouTube clip: Quien me ha robado el mes de abril - Joaquin Sabina

For more on the word "mes", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Mes*

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “mes” in the link to hear the word pronounced.

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