Basic dates: Discussing birthdays

💬 mío matches the thing owned, not the owner: el mío for a birthday, la mía for a party. The same goes for el tuyo "yours".

💬 Spanish dates use plain numbers, not "third": el tres de marzo, el veinte de mayo "May twentieth". Months are written lowercase.

💬 pronto means "soon" here, not "promptly". It can also mean "early", as in es pronto para cenar "it's early for dinner".

💬 vas a + an action is the everyday way to talk about plans. Swap the action: ¿Qué vas a comer? "What are you going to eat?"

💬 The c in cena is said like English th in Spain: (THAY-nah). cine "cinema" works the same way.

💬 en casa means "at home" with no word for "my". a casa means "home" when you're going there: voy a casa "I'm going home".

🇪🇸 In Spain, dinner is late, often around nine or ten. A birthday dinner at someone's home can run well past midnight.

💬 me attaches to the end of invitar. The pattern works for other people too: gracias por ayudarme "thanks for helping me".

💬 Spanish uses el where English says "on" before a day: el sábado "on Saturday". los sábados means "on Saturdays".

💬 Clock times take las because horas "hours" is understood: a las nueve, a las diez. One o'clock is the exception, a la una.

🇪🇸 Nine means nine in the evening here, a normal dinner time in Spain. Arriving a little late is usual for a party at home.

💬 Spanish often uses the plain present tense to offer something: ¿llevo algo? means "shall I bring something?". The same pattern gives ¿Abro la ventana? "Shall I open the window?"

🇪🇸 Hosts say this to be polite, but guests usually still turn up with wine, dessert or a small gift.

💬 ven is the short command form of venir "to come", used with someone you call tú. Others work the same way: ten "have", pon "put".

🇪🇸 vale is the standard "okay" across Spain, heard constantly. In Latin America people say okey or está bien instead.

💬 hasta + a time makes a goodbye: hasta mañana "see you tomorrow", hasta el lunes "see you Monday".

🇪🇸 Spaniards use hasta luego as a general goodbye, even with shopkeepers they'll never see again. It doesn't promise a meeting later.