Days of the Week in Portuguese
Why Portuguese uses ordinal numbers for weekday names, how to pronounce each, and the common phrases for talking about days, schedules, and recurring events.
Last updated May 20, 2026.
The Portuguese week is different from English in one very obvious way: weekdays are mostly numbers. Once you know why, it’s easy to remember.
The seven days
| English | Portuguese | Short form | Literal meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | domingo | dom. | The Lord’s Day |
| Monday | segunda-feira | segunda | Second fair-day |
| Tuesday | terça-feira | terça | Third fair-day |
| Wednesday | quarta-feira | quarta | Fourth fair-day |
| Thursday | quinta-feira | quinta | Fifth fair-day |
| Friday | sexta-feira | sexta | Sixth fair-day |
| Saturday | sábado | sáb. | Sabbath |
A few things to notice:
- The week is counted from Sunday in Portuguese tradition. Sunday is day one (domingo); Monday is day two (segunda); Saturday is the seventh and last.
- “Feira” means “fair” or “market day.” The full form is rarely used in speech outside formal or written contexts.
- All weekday names are lowercase, even at the start of a sentence-internal date.
- All weekday names are feminine grammatically.
Pronunciation
| Day | Brazilian | European |
|---|---|---|
| domingo | doh-MEEN-goo | doh-MEEN-goo |
| segunda-feira | se-GOON-dah | se-GOON-dah |
| terça-feira | TEHR-sah | TEHR-sah |
| quarta-feira | KWAR-tah | KWAR-tah |
| quinta-feira | KEEN-tah | KEEN-tah |
| sexta-feira | SEHS-tah | SESH-tah |
| sábado | SAH-bah-doo | SAH-bah-du |
Two things to watch for:
- Brazilians pronounce final “o” clearly. Europeans clip it.
- “Sexta” in European Portuguese has the soft “sh” sound the dialect is famous for.
Common phrases
Specific days
- Hoje é segunda. Today is Monday.
- Amanhã é terça. Tomorrow is Tuesday.
- Ontem foi domingo. Yesterday was Sunday.
A specific upcoming day
Use “na” + day name. The “na” is a contraction of “em” + “a” (the feminine article, since weekdays are feminine).
- Vou ao dentista na quarta. I’m going to the dentist on Wednesday.
- A reunião é na sexta. The meeting is on Friday.
Recurring events
Use “às” + plural day name.
- Eu jogo futebol às segundas. I play football on Mondays.
- O restaurante fecha às terças. The restaurant closes on Tuesdays.
”From X to Y”
- De segunda a sexta. Monday through Friday.
- De segunda a sexta-feira. Same thing, more formal.
Weekend
- Fim de semana (Brazilian) or fim-de-semana (European, hyphenated).
- No fim de semana. On the weekend.
A small Brazilian shortcut
Brazilians sometimes count weekdays by numeric abbreviation in casual writing: 2ª, 3ª, 4ª, 5ª, 6ª. These map to segunda, terça, quarta, quinta, sexta. Sábado and domingo get spelled out.
What to read next
- Numbers in Portuguese: for talking about specific dates.
- Hello in Portuguese: time-of-day greetings (bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite).
- Portuguese Verb Conjugation Basics: to say “I work on Mondays” you’ll want to conjugate “trabalhar.”
- Beginner’s Guide to Learning Portuguese: where this fits in your first month of study.
Frequently asked
Why are Portuguese weekday names numbered?
Portuguese inherited a Christian liturgical naming convention where weekdays were counted from Sunday. Monday became 'segunda-feira' (second fair-day), Tuesday 'terça-feira' (third), and so on through Friday. Saturday and Sunday kept their pagan names (sábado from the Hebrew Sabbath, domingo from the Latin Dies Dominica, the Lord's Day). It's distinctive to Portuguese among major European languages.
Do you have to say the full 'segunda-feira' or can you shorten it?
In speech, Portuguese speakers almost always drop 'feira' and just say segunda, terça, quarta, quinta, sexta. In writing it stays. Saturday (sábado) and Sunday (domingo) never had a 'feira' suffix to drop.
Are days of the week capitalised in Portuguese?
No. Unlike English, Portuguese lowercases days of the week, months of the year, and language names. 'I work on Mondays' is 'Eu trabalho às segundas.'
What's the difference between 'na segunda' and 'às segundas'?
Na segunda (literally 'on the Monday') refers to a specific upcoming or past Monday. Às segundas (literally 'on the Mondays') is plural and recurring: every Monday. 'Eu jogo futebol às segundas' means 'I play football on Mondays.'