días

Días is the plural form of día, a noun in Spanish that denotes a unit of time corresponding to a 24-hour period or, more broadly, the interval between two successive appearances of the sun. In everyday language, día can also refer to a specific calendar date or to the daylight portion of a 24-hour cycle. The plural días is used when speaking about multiple such periods or dates, or when counting durations beyond one day.

Etymology and orthography: día comes from Latin dies, and the current Spanish form retains a diacritic on the i to indicate stress (dí-a). The plural adds -s to become días, with the accent carried over to the first syllable in accordance with Spanish stress rules. The word is typically lowercase in ordinary text, except at the beginning of a sentence or in titles.

Usage and examples: días is common in references to time elapsed or remaining, such as hace cinco días (five days ago), en tres días (in three days), or durante varios días (for several days). It also appears in expressions related to the calendar, for instance días de la semana (the days of the week) or días festivos (holidays). The singular día is often used to emphasize a particular day, while días emphasizes a period.

Relationship to related terms: día is the root for several related concepts, including diario (diary or daily newspaper) and cotidiano (daily; related usage of day-to-day life). Días remains a fundamental term in scheduling, travel, work, and cultural references to time.