DAYS OF THE WEEK IN PORTUGUESE
Before Christ, the names of pagan gods were used to designate the days of the week. For example, ‘mercredi’ (day of Mercury). The use of numbers for the days of the week is related to Christianity in Portugal. This association led to the avoidance of the use of pagan names to designate the days of the week.
THE DAYS OF THE WEEK AND RELIGION
It is possible to find documents from the Middle Ages referring to the days of the week as SEGUNDA, TERÇA, etc., with the word ‘feria’ added as a liturgical prayer. For example, the third day after Saturday was ‘feria tertia.’ The evolution of Latin led to the current format: ‘feria tertia’ »» TERÇA-FEIRA »» tuesday. The names given are associated with the old markets. The exceptions are “sábado” (saturday) and “domingo” (sunday).
DAYS OF THE WEEK IN PORTUGUESE
2ª-feira = segunda-feira – Monday
3ª-feira = terça-feira – Tuesday
4ª-feira = quarta-feira – Wednesday
5ª-feira = quinta-feira – Thursday
6ª-feira = sexta-feira – Friday
Sábado – Saturday
Domingo – Sunday
2ª-feira (or segunda-feira) means in English ‘second fair.’ 3ª-feira (or terça-feira) means ‘third fair.’ The same logic can be applied to quarta-feira, quinta-feira, and sexta-feira.
Click HERE to find out all about our Portuguese classes.
WHY "SEGUNDA-FEIRA (second market)" AND NOT "PRIMEIRA-FEIRA (fist market)?
In day-to-day life, Portuguese people often do not use the word ‘feira‘ because when they say ‘segunda,’ the listener will understand that it refers to Monday. The same logic applies to all the other days of the week (except for SÁBADO (saturday) and DOMINGO (sunday).
Regarding Saturday, this word is related to ‘sabbath.’ It is believed that there is a connection between this word and Judaism.”
It is VERY COMMON to see the days of the week abbreviated.
EXAMPLES
2ª-f = Segunda-feira (monday)
3ª-f = Terça-feira (tuesday)
…
Sab – Sábado
Dom – Domingo
EXAMPLE OF USE
Aberto de 3ª a Sábado das 10.00 às 19.00. – Open from tuesday to saturday from 10.00 to 19.00 Hrs.