Time

so the days of the week in Portuguese are:

Segunda-feira [say-goon-dah fay-ee-rah] - Monday.

Terça-feira [tayr-sah fay-ee-rah] - Tuesday.

Quarta-feira [kwar-tah fay-ee-rah] - Wednesday.

Quinta-feira [keen-tah fay-ee-rah] - Thursday.

Sexta-feira [say-eesh-tah fay-ee-rah] - Friday

Sábado [sah-bah-doo] - Saturday.

Domingo [doo-meen-goo] - Sunday.

So, as we can see, Segunda-feira means "second fair", Terça-feira "third fair", Quarta-feira "fourth fair", and so on.

OK, now you might wondering... Why is Monday the second fair and not the first?

That's because the first day is "God's day" - Domingo - from the Latin "domini", or God's day.

So, under the Portuguese culture, the first day of the week should be given to God as the creator of the universe.

This is particularly interesting because it not only shows that Portugal is a monotheist country, but also shows the Portuguese tenacity and flair for commerce and trade.

In day-to-day conversations, people normally drop the word "feira", because it's understood that "segunda" means "segunda-feira".

Therefore, it is often noticed people saying things like:

"Na terça vou à praia" - On Tuesday, I'm going to the beach.

"Sabado" - Saturday - on it's turn, refers to Sabbath" believed to have an origin from the Jewish.

It's also quite likely to see the Portuguese days of the week abbreviated (when written on a poster hanging on the shop doors indicating the opening hours) like this:

Segunda-feira - 2ª.

Terça-feira - 3ª.

Quarta-feira - 4ª.

Quinta-feira - 5ª.

Sexta-feira - 6ª.

Sábado - Sab.

Domingo - Dom.