How to Talk About Your Daily Routine
Use reflexive verbs, time expressions, and sequencing words to describe your mornings, afternoons, and evenings in Spanish with confidence.
Talking about your day is one of the best ways to practise Spanish, because you already know the content. The grammar you need is mostly reflexive verbs, a handful of time expressions, and words that connect one action to the next. This article builds a full daily routine step by step, from waking up to going to sleep.
What makes a verb reflexive
A reflexive verb describes an action that the subject does to itself. In Spanish these verbs end in -se in the infinitive (levantarse, ducharse) and take a reflexive pronoun: me, te, se, nos, os, se. You will use them for almost every personal care action.
- Levantarse (to get up): me levanto, te levantas, se levanta, nos levantamos
- Ducharse (to shower): me ducho, te duchas, se ducha, nos duchamos
- Vestirse (to get dressed): me visto, te vistes, se viste, nos vestimos
Not every verb is reflexive. “Desayunar” (to have breakfast) and “trabajar” (to work) take no pronoun, because you are not doing them to yourself. Compare “Me despierto a las siete” (I wake up at seven) with “Despierto a mi hijo a las siete” (I wake up my son at seven). The second uses the same root but means you are waking someone else.
Telling the time of day
Use “a las” plus the hour for specific times, and “por la” for parts of the day. Note that “la una” (one o’clock) is singular and every other hour is plural.
- A la una / A las dos / A las siete (at one / two / seven o’clock)
- Por la mañana / por la tarde / por la noche (in the morning / afternoon / evening)
- Y media / y cuarto / menos cuarto (half past / quarter past / quarter to)
Me despierto a las siete y media.
I wake up at half past seven.
A morning routine, step by step
Me despierto a las seis y me levanto enseguida.
I wake up at six and get up right away.
Luego me ducho y me visto rápidamente.
Then I shower and get dressed quickly.
Desayuno café con tostadas antes de salir.
I have coffee with toast before leaving.
Notice how each sentence starts with the time or a sequence word. This makes your story easy to follow. Without these connectors, a list of actions sounds like a robot reading a schedule.
Sequencing words that make you sound natural
- Primero (first), luego / después (then, after that), finalmente (finally)
- Antes de (before + infinitive), después de (after + infinitive)
- Mientras (while), cuando (when)
Después de comer, me siento un rato en el sofá.
After eating, I sit on the sofa for a while.
Cuando llego a casa, me quito los zapatos y descanso.
When I get home, I take off my shoes and rest.
Describing your working day
Use “trabajar” with “en” for a place and “de” for a job. For hours, use “de … a …”. If you work part-time, you can also say “medio día”.
Trabajo de nueve a cinco en una oficina.
I work from nine to five in an office.
Por la tarde, me gusta ir al gimnasio.
In the afternoon, I like going to the gym.
An evening routine
Por la noche cocino algo sencillo y hablo con mi familia por teléfono.
In the evening I cook something simple and talk with my family on the phone.
Me acuesto a las once porque me levanto temprano.
I go to bed at eleven because I get up early.
Use “me acuesto” (I go to bed) and “me duermo” (I fall asleep). They are related but not the same: you can lie down and still be awake for an hour.
Build your own routine
- Me despierto a las…— I wake up at…
- Desayuno / almuerzo / ceno— I have breakfast / lunch / dinner
- Trabajo / estudio / descanso— I work / study / rest
- Me acuesto a las…— I go to bed at…
- Los fines de semana…— On weekends…
Key vocabulary
- despertarse— to wake up
- levantarse— to get up
- ducharse— to shower
- vestirse— to get dressed
- desayunar— to have breakfast
- acostarse— to go to bed
- por la mañana / por la tarde / por la noche— in the morning / afternoon / evening
- a las siete— at seven o’clock
- después / antes / luego— after / before / then
Check your understanding
Answer a few questions to test what you learned from this article.
1. What does “Me levanto a las siete” mean?
2. Where does the reflexive pronoun go in “I am going to wake up”?
3. Which word means “then” in a sequence of actions?
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