One of the most unique aspects of the Portuguese language has to do with the names of weekdays. We express the days of the week by using ordinal numbers followed by the word feira. The following table more clearly explains the origin of the names of the weekdays.

TRACK 44

Weekdays

This distinctive way of expressing weekdays came about because of a very influential bishop named Martinho de Dume, also known as Martinho de Braga. During his tenure as a Bishop of Braga, he considered it undignified for good Christians to say the names of weekdays by their original pagan names — Lunae dies (Day of the Moon), Martis dies (Day of Mars), Mercurii dies (Day of Mercury), Jovis dies (Day of Jovis or Jupiter), Veneris dies (Day of Venus), Saturni dies (Day of Saturn), and Solis dies (Day of the Sun). So, starting from Sunday, he devised the names Prima Feria, Secunda Feria, and so forth, for the days of the Holy Week. The current word feira is a linguistic corruption of Feria, which meant “Holy Day” or holiday, a day on which people should not work. Later, the first day (Prima Feria) or Sunday, was changed to Domenica, which is Latin for the “Day of the Lord.” This meaning is also kept in Spanish, Italian, and French.

To know what day it is you should ask Que dia (da semana) é hoje? (What day [of the week] is today?). The answer could be É sexta! (It's Friday!). Also when referring to a specific day of the week when asked Quando você vai à igreja? (When do you do to church?), the answer could be no domingo (on Sunday). For the other days of the week use the contraction na for the weekdays, as in na segunda, na terça, na quarta, and so on. And use no sábado to express “on Saturday.”