primer día
/pɾimeɾ dia/from spelling rules
The English phrase "day one" is translated into Spanish as primer día.
This adverbial phrase is used to describe something happening at the very beginning of a period or process.
Meaning: at the very beginning (adv)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is a literal translation of "first day", where primer is the ordinal number "first" and día is "day".
How does it change in a sentence?
In most contexts, you should include the definite article el before the phrase when using it as a noun phrase, such as in el primer día.
Did you know?
- In Spanish, the word día is masculine, so it uses el primer día instead of la primera día. This is unusual because most words ending in -a are feminine.
- While they look identical, the Spanish word día and the English word 'day' are not actually related. They come from completely different ancient roots, as one is linked to the sky and the other is not.
- When referring to the first day of a month, Spanish speakers often say el día uno instead of el primer día. This shifts the word from an ordinal number to a cardinal number.
Examples in context
- Durante el primer día del congreso, se presentarán importantes ponentes.During the first day of the conference, important speakers will present.
- Desde el primer día, todo fue perfecto.From day one, everything was perfect.
- Todo fue muy difícil el primer día.Everything was very difficult on the first day.
- Tengo mucha energía el primer día de clase.I have a lot of energy on the first day of class.
- El primer día de trabajo fue increíble.The first day of work was incredible.
Example conversation
Lucía and Alejandro are talking about their new jobs.
- LucíaMe gusta mucho mi nuevo empleo.I really like my new job.
- AlejandroYo también, lo supe el primer día.Me too, I knew it on day one.
- Lucía¿Fue difícil empezar el trabajo?Was it hard to start the job?
- AlejandroNo, todo fue fácil desde el primer día.No, everything was easy from day one.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries día, CC BY-SA 4.0.
