Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons in Hebrew

Discover how to talk about the days of the week, months, and seasons in Hebrew. Learn about two different calendars, both important if you’re learning the language, and where some of these words originally came from. Plus, grab some bonus time phrases at the end – great for any conversation!

Months in Hebrew

English	Hebrew	transliteration
January	ינואר	yanuar
February	פברואר	febru’ar
March	מרץ	merts
April	אפריל	april
May	מאי	may
June	יוני	yuni
July	יולי	yuli
August	אוגוסט	ogust
September	ספטמבר	september
October	אוקטובר	oktober
November	נובמבר	november
December	דצמבר	detsember

These are the Gregorian months of the year and are the ones you’ll find in the uTalk app. You might notice that they’re quite similar to English – and if you speak some German, you’ll see that they’re even more similar to that language! This is because the Gregorian months of the year are, in fact, based on the German names of the Gregorian months.

However, there is also another calendar you might come across while learning Hebrew: The Hebrew or Jewish calendar. This is a lunisolar calendar which is both used for Jewish religious observance and is also the official calendar of Israel.

The Hebrew calendar determines the dates for Jewish holidays, daily Psalm readings, dates to commemorate the death of a relative, and other ceremonial uses. In Israel, it’s used for religious purposes and is an official calendar for civil holidays alongside the Gregorian calendar.

Month Number	Hebrew	Transliteration	Length	Holidays/Notable Days	Notes
1	נִיסָן‎	Nissan	30 days	Passover
2	אִיָּר / אִייָר‎	Iyar	29 days	Pesach Sheni, Lag B’Omer
3	סִיוָן / סיוון‎	Siwan	30 days	Shavuot
4	תַּמּוּז	Tamuz	29 days	Seventeenth of Tammuz
5	אָב	Abu	30 days	Tisha B’Av, Tu B’Av
6	אֱלוּל	Elul	29 days
7	תִּשְׁרֵי / תִּשׁרִי‎	Tishrei	30 days	Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah
8	מַרְחֶשְׁוָן / מרחשוון ‎	Marcheshvan, Cheshvan, Marẖeshwan	29 or 30 days
9	כִּסְלֵו / כסליו‎	Kislev, Chisleu, Chislev	29 or 30 days	Hanukkah
10	טֵבֵת	Tebeth	29 days	Tenth of Tevet
11	שְׁבָט	Shevat, Shebat, Sebat	30 days	Tu Bishvat
12L*	אֲדָר א׳ ‎	Adar I*	30 days		*Only in Leap years.
12	אֲדָר / אֲדָר ב׳* ‎	Adar / Adar II*	29 days	Purim	*Only in Leap years.

You’ll notice a difference in leap years, too. Where the Gregorian calendar usually only adds an extra day (29th February), the Hebrew calendar adds an entire extra month – Adar I, which slots in between Shevat and Adar (making it Adar II). This is why, some years, some of these holidays and festivals seem to move around so much!

Days of the week in Hebrew

English	Hebrew	transliteration
Monday	יום שני	yom sheni
Tuesday	יום שלישי	yom shlishi
Wednesday	יום רביעי	yom revi’ei
Thursday	יום חמישי	yom khamishi
Friday	יום שישי	yom shishi
Saturday	יום שבת	yom shabat
Sunday	יום ראשון	yom rishon

If you know any Hebrew, then you should find the days of the week easy enough to learn.

That’s because יום (yom) means ‘day’ and the words for ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ etc. are ראשון (rishon), שני (sheni), שלישי (shlishi), רביעי (revi’ei), חמישי (khamishi), and שישי (shishi) respectively.

The exception is שבת (shabat), which means Shabbat or Sabbath – i.e. a weekly day of rest.

Seasons in Hebrew

English	Hebrew	transliteration
spring	אביב	aviv
summer	קיץ	kaits
autumn	סתו	stav
winter	חורף	khoref

The word אביב (aviv), meaning ‘spring’, originally comes from a root meaning ‘to swell’ or ‘to ripen’, probably because this is the season when plants and fruit begin to grow.

Summer, קיץ (kaits), is similar in origin to Arabic words like قَيْظ (qayz), which means ‘oppressive heat’ or ‘midsummer’ or قَاظَ (qāẓa), which means ‘to be hot’.

Other Hebrew time phrases

English	Hebrew	transliteration
day	יום	yom
night	לילה	laila
week	שבוע	shavu’aa
month	חודש	khodesh
year	שנה	shana
day before yesterday	שלשום	shilshom
yesterday	אתמול	etmol
today	היום	ha’yom
tomorrow	מחר	makhar
day after tomorrow	מחרתיים	mkhrataim
morning	בוקר	boker
afternoon	אחר הצהריים	akhar hatsohoraim
evening	ערב	erev

Unsurprisingly, considering the fact that Hebrew, like Arabic, is a Semitic language, lots of these terms are related to Arabic words or even derive from Proto-Semitic itself. If you already know some Arabic or Aramaic, do you recognise any on first glance?

Let us know if you enjoyed learning the days of the week, months, and seasons in Hebrew.

All the Hebrew words and phrases included in this post can be found in the Calendar topic on the uTalk app. Learn Hebrew with uTalk and you’ll learn a total of around 2,500 words and phrases that are helpful for any occasion.

Have fun and happy language learning!