No tenemos todo el día.
We don't have all day.
Todo el día means the whole day. Todo never stands alone before the noun: it brings the article and matches it, todo with el and toda with la.
From El demonio vestido de azul · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "day" in Spanish
el día
nounmasculineplural: los díaswritten accent on í
"Day" in Spanish is el día. It ends in -a, but it's masculine: el día, un buen día, todo el día. The written accent on the í keeps two syllables, so say DEE-ah.
Hear "día" in real movie scenes
The whole day, then every day. Each video starts and stops on that line.
Yo lo hago todos los días.
I do it every day.
In the plural the meaning shifts from the whole day to each single one, so todos los días means every day.
From Suits · Spanish audio
Everyday phrases with día
Six phrases built on one short word.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| buenos días | good morning |
| todo el día | all day, the whole day |
| todos los días | every day |
| mi día libre | my day off |
| al día siguiente | the next day |
| cada dos días | every other day |
Tip: In Argentina and Uruguay many people greet you with buen día in the morning instead of buenos días.
Grammar: el día, los días
Four points, starting with the article.
Masculine despite the -a
It's el día and un día, never la día. El mapa and el idioma break the same pattern.Plural and adjectives
los días, unos días. Adjectives stay masculine: un día largo, los primeros días.Whole day or every day
Singular todo el día is one whole day. Plural todos los días is each day, again and again.Buen before día
Bueno drops its -o before a masculine singular noun: un buen día. The plural greeting keeps it: buenos días.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
No tenemos todo el día.
We don't have all day.
Estoy en la tienda todo el día.
I'm at the store all day.
Voy a la tienda todos los días.
I go to the store every day.
Unos dos días.
About two days.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗la día
✓el día
The -a ending fools a lot of learners. Día takes el.
✗toda el día
✓todo el día
Todo agrees with the masculine article el, so it keeps the -o.
✗todo el día (meaning every day)
✓todos los días
Todo el día is a single whole day. For a daily habit, make both words plural.
✗buenos día
✓buenos días
The morning greeting is plural from start to finish.
Real conversation: a long day of shopping
A short dialog with your neighbor on the street.
You run into your neighbor Rafael outside a store. He knows you're hunting for a sweater today.
Oye, ¿qué tal el día?
Hey, how's your day going?
Todo el día en la tienda.
All day at the store.
¿Todo el día? ¿Y el jersey?
All day? And the sweater?
Your turn to answer
In the app you reply in Spanish for the last 2 lines.
Continue the conversation in WordyPractice: 3 quick exercises
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1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 32 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Día sounds like the start of diary, and a diary gives you one page for every día.
Questions about "day" in Spanish
How do you say day in Spanish?
El día, plural los días. It's masculine even though it ends in -a.
Is día masculine or feminine?
Masculine: el día, un buen día. It belongs to a small group of common words in -a that take el, like el mapa.
How do you say "every day" in Spanish?
Todos los días. Keep it apart from todo el día, which means all day long.
How do you say "good morning" in Spanish?
Buenos días, always in the plural. In Argentina and Uruguay you'll also hear buen día.
