Question 1

Why is it un día and not uno día if the number one is uno?

Accepted Answer

When counting on its own, "one" is uno. But when it comes directly before a masculine noun like día, it drops the -o and becomes un. This rule also applies to the bigger numbers you are learning now: "twenty-one days" is veintiún días and "thirty-one days" is treinta y un días.

Question 2

Wait, día ends in "-a". Shouldn't it be a feminine word, making it una día?

Accepted Answer

Usually, Spanish words ending in -a are feminine. However, día is one of the most common exceptions to this rule! It is a strictly masculine noun (el día), which is why we must use the masculine un instead of una.

Question 3

I thought trabajo meant "job". How do we know it means "I work" here?

Accepted Answer

Trabajo can be both a noun (el trabajo, meaning "the job" or "the work") and a verb. Here, it is the "I" form of the verb trabajar (to work). You can tell it's the verb because it's the main action of the sentence, the word "I" (yo) is secretly built into that -o ending, and there is no "the" (el) or "a" (un) in front of it.

Question 4

Does en mean "in" or "at" here?

Accepted Answer

It can be both! In Spanish, en is a very flexible word that covers "in", "on", and "at". So en el restaurante translates perfectly to "in the restaurant" or "at the restaurant" depending on what sounds best in English.

Trabajo un día en el restaurante.

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