el día siguiente
/el dia siɡjente/from spelling rules
The Spanish phrase for "next day" is el día siguiente.
el día siguiente is used to refer to the day that comes immediately after a specific day that has already been mentioned.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase el día siguiente is used in a relative sense to indicate the day after a day already established in a story or context.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use el próximo día to mean "the next day" in a narrative context (e.g., "He died and the next day he was buried"), whereas el día siguiente is the correct way to express this sequence in Spanish.
Did you know?
- The word día actually shares an ancient ancestor with the word for 'sky', specifically the Proto-Indo-European root for 'heaven'.
- Spanish uses different logic for 'next' depending on the perspective. El día siguiente looks back from a point in the past, while el próximo día looks forward from the present.
- When discussing a sequence of days in a narrative, Spanish speakers may use al día siguiente instead of el día siguiente to indicate 'on the next day'.
Examples in context
- En el auto de camino a casa, él iba haciendo planes para el día siguiente.In the car on the way home, he was making plans for the next day.This sentence shows how to use el día siguiente when describing someone making plans.Tatoeba #2082340 by marcelostockle, translation #20419 by CK
- Una de las costumbres de los empleados es reunirse casi todos los días en un bar o restaurante al terminar la jornada laboral para intoxicarse con alcohol y olvidarse de su miserable vida hasta el día siguiente.One of the customs of the employees is to meet almost every day at a bar or restaurant at the end of the workday to get intoxicated with alcohol and forget about their miserable life until the next day.This sentence illustrates the phrase being used to describe a routine that lasts until el día siguiente.Tatoeba #4384016 by umano, translation #4409752 by LB
- Le pregunté si iría ahí el día siguiente.I asked him if he would go there the next day.This sentence demonstrates asking a question about an action occurring on el día siguiente.Tatoeba #1109844 by darinmex, translation #260500 by CK
- La reunión será al día siguiente.The meeting will be the next day.
- Recibirás el informe completo al día siguiente.You will receive the complete report the next day.
- Fuimos al cine y al día siguiente (de ir al cine) salimos a cenar.We went to the movies, and the next day we went out for dinner.
- Terminamos de pintar la casa y al día siguiente de la pintada, recibimos visitas.We finished painting the house, and the day after painting, we had visitors.
- Me llamaron para reunirnos al día siguiente.They called me to meet the next day.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Elena are planning a trip.
- DanielLlegamos el lunes y descansamos.We arrive on Monday and we rest.
- ElenaPerfecto, podemos visitar el museo el día siguiente.Perfect, we can visit the museum the next day.
- DanielMe parece una buena idea, Elena.That sounds like a good idea, Elena.
- ElenaEntonces reservaré las entradas ahora.Then I will book the tickets now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries día, el, siguiente, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
