Choose exam board for KS4 Computer Science (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 English
Choose exam board for KS4 French
Choose exam board for KS4 Geography
Choose exam board for KS4 German
Choose exam board for KS4 History
Choose tier for KS4 Maths
Choose exam board for KS4 Music
Choose exam board for KS4 Physical education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Religious education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Spanish

      Special events and festivals: 'el' with dates

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can talk about dates for special events and festivals.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. Short texts are useful to help revise vocabulary in a real-life context.
      2. 'El' is used to mean 'on the' with specific dates. It is not used for today's date.
      3. Days of the week, months of the year and numbers 1-31 are used to understand and communicate dates.
      4. To ask when a specific event is, use '¿Cuál es la fecha de ... ?'.

      Keywords

      • El - definite article meaning 'on the' when used with specific dates

      • Cuál - question word meaning which

      Common misconception

      'El' is used for all dates.

      'El' is used to mean 'on the' for specific dates. It is not used for today's date.

      Teacher tip

      You may like to further explore different festivals in Spanish-speaking countries with your class. Pupils can use their own research to share the dates of these festivals as well as some simple details.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

      Loading...

      Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.

      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Order the days of the week.

      1 - lunes
      2 - martes
      3 - miércoles
      4 - jueves
      5 - viernes
      6 - sábado
      7 - domingo

      Q2.
      Order the numbers from largest to smallest.

      1 - veinteséis
      2 - veinticuatro
      3 - diecinueve
      4 - dieciséis
      5 - catorce
      6 - diez
      7 - nueve

      Q3.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:abuelo (m),grandfather

      grandfather

      Correct Answer:abuela (f),grandmother

      grandmother

      Correct Answer:padre (m),father

      father

      Correct Answer:madre (f),mother

      mother

      Correct Answer:comida (f),food

      food

      Correct Answer:cumpleaños (m),birthday

      birthday

      Q4.
      Match the Spanish and English.

      Correct Answer:activo,active (m)

      active (m)

      Correct Answer:cansado,tired (m)

      tired (m)

      Correct Answer:contento,pleased (m)

      pleased (m)

      Correct Answer:divertido,fun, funny (m)

      fun, funny (m)

      Correct Answer:feliz,happy (m, f)

      happy (m, f)

      Correct Answer:pesado,boring (m)

      boring (m)

      Q5.
      Order the words to say: 'an interesting day with an important party'.

      1 - un
      2 - día
      3 - interesante
      4 - con
      5 - una
      6 - fiesta
      7 - importante

      Q6.
      Write in Spanish: 'I have seven presents'.

      Correct Answer: Tengo siete regalos.

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      Which sentence does not need 'el'?

      Navidad es _____ veintecinco de diciembre.
      La fiesta es _____ cuatro de octubre.
      Es _____ treinta y uno de noviembre.
      Correct answer: Hoy es _____ veintinueve de enero.

      Q2.
      Order the words to ask a question.

      1 - cuál
      2 - es
      3 - la
      4 - fecha
      5 - de
      6 - tu
      7 - fiesta

      Q3.
      Write in Spanish: 'on the 27th of May'. Use full words.

      Correct Answer: el veintisiete de mayo

      Q4.
      Write in Spanish: 'today is the 8th of March'. Use full words.

      Correct Answer: Hoy es ocho de marzo.

      To help you plan your 5 Spanish lesson on: Special events and festivals: 'el' with dates, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...