In Portuguese, the naming of os dias da semanathe days of the weekCommunity does not take inspiration from the planets and gods, as is the case for many other languages. Instead, they are simply numbered.
The origin of the names of the days of the week in Portuguese
The numbering of each weekday in Portuguese might have to do with ancient Easter celebrations, in which people were granted seven days of rest, starting from Sunday. Sunday would then be called, in Latin, feria prima (first free day), while the day after would be feria secunda (second free day) and so on. These Latin roots are evident today in the Portuguese words for the days of the week.
| Day in Portuguese | Origin |
|---|---|
| domingoSundayCommunity | Latin: dies Dominicus (day of the Lord) |
| segunda-feiraMondayCommunity | Latin: feria secunda |
| terça-feiraTuesdayCommunity | Latin: feria tertia |
| quarta-feiraWednesdayCommunity | Latin: feria quarta |
| quinta-feiraThursdayCommunity | Latin: feria quinta |
| sexta-feiraFridayCommunity | Latin: feria sexta |
| sábadoSaturdayCommunity | Latin: sabbatum |
Domingo and sábado didn’t remain numbered. DomingoSundayCommunity would never be referred to as primeira-feira! But they still mark the first and last day of the week, respectively, as you’ll notice in most calendars. The word sábadoSaturdayCommunity is related to the Jewish Shabbat, or Sabbath, a day of rest and worship.
Business Days vs. Weekends
The business days of the week are called dias úteisweekdaysCommunity , which translates literally to “useful days”. These include all of the days that end in -feira, from segunda-feiraMondayCommunity to sexta-feiraFridayCommunity
Sábado and domingo are the days of o fim de semanathe weekendCommunity , when most schools and workplaces are closed.
Apart from os fins de semanathe weekendsCommunity , the only times people are free from school or work is on feriadospublic holidaysCommunity or during as fériasholidays, vacationsCommunity or if you can tirar um dia de folgatake a day offCommunity . Férias is another Portuguese word that comes directly from the Latin term feria.
The days of the week in everyday life
“Que dia é hoje?” “Hoje é sexta-feira.””What day is it today?” “Today is Friday.”Community
In informal situations, the -feira, is often omitted, because the first part of the name is enough to identify it. Being shared by all five business days, -feira doesn’t do much to differentiate them, so it’s perfectly normal to shorten this to:
Hoje é sextaToday is FridayCommunity
Similar to English, the days of the week in Portuguese can also be abbreviated. You can shorten all of them to their first three letters to get:
- Dom.
- Seg.
- Ter.
- Qua.
- Qui.
- Sex.
- Sáb.
Since the days are named sequentially, an even shorter abbreviation can be used for Monday through Friday:
- 2.ª
- 3.ª
- 4.ª
- 5.ª
- 6.ª
Because all dias úteisweekdaysCommunity are considered feminine nouns, the abbreviations in the latter group end with a feminine indicator (ª). Sábado and domingo are masculine nouns, however. Pay attention to the gender agreement in each of the following examples:
Na próxima terça, tenho um teste de Inglês.Next Tuesday, I have an English test.Community
No próximo sábado, tenho um encontro!Next Saturday, I have a date!Community