Days of the Week in Brazilian Portuguese
Fernando Nonohay Nonohay 
In this post, you'll learn all about the days of the week in Brazilian Portuguese.
You'll learn how to pronounce the days of the week in Brazilian Portuguese, the origin of their names, their grammatical gender and which preposition to use with them.
👉 The days of the week in Brazilian Portuguese are as follows:
segunda-feira (Monday)
terça-feira (Tuesday)
quarta-feira (Wednesday)
quinta-feira (Thursday)
sexta-feira (Friday)
sábado (Saturday)
👉 In Portuguese, the word feira comes from the Latin 'feria', which means 'free day'. That's where words like férias (vacation/holiday) and feriado (holiday) come from.
👉 The word feira is often left out, both in oral and written language.
👉 In the third century AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine sanctified all the days of the week with the name 'feria' - to signify a Christian feast day or religious festival. So the seven days were (starting on Sunday):
prima (first) feria
secunda (second) feria
tertia (third) feria
quarta (fourth) feria
quinta (fifth) feria
sexta (sixth) feria
septima (seventh) feria.
In the fourth century, 'prima feria' became domingo, which means in Latin 'day of the Lord', and 'septima feria' became sábado (Sabbath - Saturday).
👉 Unlike English, Portuguese uses a small initial letter for the days of the week.
👉 The nouns sábado and domingo are masculine.
👉 The nouns segunda(-feira), terça(-feira), quarta(-feira), quinta(-feira) and sexta(-feira) are feminine.
👉 The days of the week are not normally preceded by the definite article, but its usage is obligatory in conjunction with prepositions. The most common preposition used with the days of the week in colloquial conversation is em (on):
em + o = no (on the - masc.)
em + os =nos(on the - masc. pl.)
em + a = na (on the - fem. sing.)
em + as = nas (on the - fem. pl.)
O que você vai fazer no domingo?
What are you going to do on Sunday?
Na sexta vou ficar em casa.
On Friday I'm going to stay home.
👉 It's also common to merge the preposition em with the demonstrative pronouns (this):
em + esse = nesse (on this - masc)
em + essa = nessa (on this - fem.)
O que você vai fazer nesse sábado?
What are you going to do this (on this) Saturday?
O que você vai fazer nessa segunda?
What are you going to do this (on this) Monday?
Categories: : Vocabulary