📖LearnModule 9 · Lesson 20 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, completedUnit 4 · Los relativos complejos
El día en que, donde
Module 9 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B2, completed), lesson 20 of 30: Spanish says the day IN WHICH, not the day when: el día en que llegué. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
el día en que llegué
the day I arrived
ehl DEE-ah ehn keh yeh-GEH
el año en que
the year when
ehl AH-nyoh ehn keh
mudarse
to move house
moo-DAR-seh
el momento
the moment
ehl moh-MEHN-toh
la costura
the seam
lah kohs-TOO-rah
el detalle
the detail
ehl deh-TAH-yeh
natural
natural
nah-too-RAHL
torpe
clumsy
TOHR-peh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Spanish says the day IN WHICH, not the day when: el día en que llegué, el año en que nos mudamos, en el momento en que mi vida cambió. Cuando works too in speech, but en que is what a careful writer chooses.
Y también · And also
Donde takes places only: la ciudad donde nací. It is a small thing that marks a writer instantly. English speakers reach for cuando in every position, and a Spanish reader hears the seam — la costura, the place where two pieces were sewn together.
Ojo · Watch out
A day or a year takes en que: el día en que llegué, el año en que nos mudamos. donde is for places only: la ciudad donde nací. And mudarse is to move house; mover is to move a thing.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el día en que llegué.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 20 in Module 9 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.