Days of the week in Portuguese: why Monday is “segunda-feira”
Portuguese is the only major Romance language that numbers its weekdays instead of naming them after planets and gods. Here's how it works, and how people actually say them.
The list
domingo (Sunday), segunda-feira (Monday), terça-feira (Tuesday), quarta-feira (Wednesday), quinta-feira (Thursday), sexta-feira (Friday), sábado (Saturday).
Literally: “second day”, “third day”… counting from Sunday. The weekdays are lowercase in Portuguese.
Where does it come from?
The usual explanation points to church Latin, which numbered the days (feria secunda, feria tertia…) to avoid the names of pagan gods. Portuguese kept that system; Spanish, French and Italian kept the planets.
How people really say them
In conversation, -feira usually disappears: até segunda! (see you on Monday!), na sexta vou ao Porto. You'll still see the full form in writing.
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