The days of the week in Portuguese.

Are fun and so useful.

The days of the week in Portuguese have a very interesting story.

Although the ancient Latin refers to the days of the week to the Moon and pagan Gods, Portugal adopted a different way to name the days of the week. This doesn't mean, however, that the Portuguese culture doesn't have a strong religious influence.

Probably due to the Portuguese strong genetic nature to be different and original, they adopted to refer to the days of the week to a numbered market of fair days, except for the days of the weekend - sábado and domingo.

so the days of the week in Portuguese are:

Segunda-feira [say-goon-dah fay-ee-rah] - Monday.

Terça-feira [tayr-sah fay-ee-rah] - Tuesday.

Quarta-feira [kwar-tah fay-ee-rah] - Wednesday.

Quinta-feira [keen-tah fay-ee-rah] - Thursday.

Sexta-feira [say-eesh-tah fay-ee-rah] - Friday

Sábado [sah-bah-doo] - Saturday.

Domingo [doo-meen-goo] - Sunday.

So, as we can see, Segunda-feira means "second fair", Terça-feira "third fair", Quarta-feira "fourth fair", and so on.

OK, now you might wondering... Why is Monday the second fair and not the first?

That's because the first day is "God's day" - Domingo - from the Latin "domini", or God's day.

So, under the Portuguese culture, the first day of the week should be given to God as the creator of the universe.

This is particularly interesting because it not only shows that Portugal is a monotheist country, but also shows the Portuguese tenacity and flair for commerce and trade.

In day-to-day conversations, people normally drop the word "feira", because it's understood that "segunda" means "segunda-feira".

Therefore, it is often noticed people saying things like:

"Na terça vou à praia" - On Tuesday, I'm going to the beach.

"Sabado" - Saturday - on it's turn, refers to Sabbath" believed to have an origin from the Jewish.

It's also quite likely to see the Portuguese days of the week abbreviated (when written on a poster hanging on the shop doors indicating the opening hours) like this:

Segunda-feira - 2ª.

Terça-feira - 3ª.

Quarta-feira - 4ª.

Quinta-feira - 5ª.

Sexta-feira - 6ª.

Sábado - Sab.

Domingo - Dom.

So it's quite likely seeing something like:

Aberto de 2ª a 6ª das 9.00 às 18.00. - Open from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 18.00 Hrs.

And that's it! I hope you have enjoyed the days of the week in Portuguese.

As a suggestion to learn them better, repeat them many times (with the pronunciation tips) before you jump to another page of this site. Then, repeat them at least 15 times by the end of the day and tomorrow as well, and... my friend you'll never forget them again!

Até amanhã [atay ama-nyiang] - see you tomorrow.

Rafa.







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