Days, months and dates work the same way in European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. The days run segunda-feira to domingo, the months janeiro to dezembro, and a date reads day before month, as in 28 de outubro de 2026. Portugal writes the months in lowercase and asks the date with a quantos estamos.
These are the words you reach for on your first day in Portugal: a weekday to meet, the month on a booking, a date on a form. They are quick to learn because the days follow a counting pattern and the months are close to English.
Almost everything here is shared with Brazil, so a list from either variety will mostly serve you. The few real differences are in how the Portuguese spoken in Portugal frames a date, and they are the ones worth getting right.
Key takeaways
- The days of the week in Portugal run segunda-feira, terça-feira, quarta-feira, quinta-feira and sexta-feira, then sábado and domingo at the weekend.
- Portugal often drops the -feira, so segunda-feira becomes segunda and sexta-feira becomes sexta in everyday speech.
- The twelve months, janeiro to dezembro, are written in lowercase in Portugal, unlike their English names.
- A date in Portugal reads day before month, as in 28 de outubro de 2026, joined with the word de.
How do you say the days of the week?
The weekday names in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal come from counting, not from gods or planets as in English. Sunday, domingo, is treated as the first day, so Monday is segunda-feira, the second, Tuesday is terça-feira, the third, and the pattern runs on to sexta-feira on Friday. Saturday, sábado, and Sunday, domingo, stand outside it.
| English | European Portuguese | Short form |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | segunda-feira | segunda |
| Tuesday | terça-feira | terça |
| Wednesday | quarta-feira | quarta |
| Thursday | quinta-feira | quinta |
| Friday | sexta-feira | sexta |
| Saturday | sábado | sábado |
| Sunday | domingo | domingo |
In everyday speech people in Portugal usually drop the -feira. You will hear até segunda for see you on Monday far more often than the full segunda-feira. The short form is normal and polite, and the full name is kept for formal writing and printed dates.
How do you say the months of the year?
The twelve months are close to their English names, which makes them the quickest part to learn. They are janeiro, fevereiro, março, abril, maio, junho, julho, agosto, setembro, outubro, novembro and dezembro. The one habit to change is capitalisation.
| English | European Portuguese |
|---|---|
| January | janeiro |
| February | fevereiro |
| March | março |
| April | abril |
| May | maio |
| June | junho |
| July | julho |
| August | agosto |
| September | setembro |
| October | outubro |
| November | novembro |
| December | dezembro |
Portuguese writes months and days in lowercase, so you write em janeiro, not em Janeiro. Portugal did capitalise them before the 1990 Orthographic Agreement, so older signs and letters show Janeiro with a capital, but the current rule in Portugal is lowercase.
How do you write and say a full date?
A full date in Portugal reads from small to large: the day, then de, then the month, then de and the year. The 28th of October 2026 is vinte e oito de outubro de dois mil e vinte e seis. In figures it is written 28/10/2026, with the day before the month.
Dates use ordinary counting numbers, not ordinals, with one exception. You say dois de maio for the 2nd of May and quinze de agosto for the 15th. The first of the month is often primeiro, as in primeiro de janeiro, although o dia um also works in speech.
To say when something happens, use em before the month or the year, as in em outubro and em 2026. Use no dia before a date, as in no dia 28. For a single weekday use no, as in no sábado for on Saturday.
What changes in European Portuguese?
The days, months and dates themselves are the same in Portugal and Brazil, so a word list from either one will serve you. The real differences are small, and they live in how Portugal asks for and frames a date.
Portugal asks the date with the verb estar, which means to be in a place or state. A quantos estamos means literally at how many are we, and the answer is estamos a 28 de outubro. Brazil almost always uses que dia é hoje instead, so the estar form marks you as a speaker of Portugal Portuguese.
| Portugal | Brazil | English |
|---|---|---|
| a quantos estamos? | que dia é hoje? | what is the date today? |
| estamos a 12 de maio | é 12 de maio | it is the 12th of May |
Portugal also uses a, meaning at or on, for something that happens every week. Às segundas-feiras means on Mondays, every Monday, and ao sábado means on Saturdays. This recurring use of a with a weekday is far more common in Portugal than in Brazil, which tends to say nas segundas instead.
How do you practise days and dates in Portugal Portuguese?
Reading a date off a page is easy. Catching a date said quickly out loud, or giving one back without counting on your fingers, is the part that only daily practice fixes. The words are few, so the whole problem is turning them from recognition into speech.
This is where Fluentus fits. Fluentus teaches the Portuguese spoken in Portugal only, and its AI tutor holds spoken conversations with you 24 hours a day in a real human voice. You arrange days, name months and say dates out loud, and the tutor corrects you, so they start arriving without a pause.
Fluentus runs courses from A1 to B2 with smart flashcards built from your own conversations, on iOS and Android. If you are just starting, how to learn European Portuguese from scratch lays out a first path. For the numbers behind every date, see how to count in European Portuguese.
In one sentence: learn the seven days and twelve months by heart, read a date day before month, and practise saying them out loud until they come without counting.
Frequently asked questions
What are the days of the week in Portugal Portuguese?
The days are segunda-feira for Monday, terça-feira for Tuesday, quarta-feira for Wednesday, quinta-feira for Thursday and sexta-feira for Friday, then sábado for Saturday and domingo for Sunday. In everyday speech Portugal usually drops the -feira, so Monday becomes simply segunda and Friday becomes sexta.
Are the months capitalised in Portugal Portuguese?
No, months are written in lowercase in Portugal, so you write janeiro and em março, never with a capital. Portugal did capitalise them before the 1990 Orthographic Agreement, so older letters and signs show forms like Janeiro, but the current rule across Portugal is lowercase.
How do you write the date in Portugal?
A date in Portugal reads day before month, so the 28th of October 2026 is 28/10/2026 in figures and vinte e oito de outubro de 2026 in words. The parts are joined with de, and the day uses an ordinary number, not an ordinal, apart from the first of the month.
How do you ask the date in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal?
Portugal asks with a quantos estamos, which literally means at how many are we, and answers with estamos a 28 de outubro. The simpler que dia é hoje also works and is understood everywhere. Brazil uses que dia é hoje almost always, where Portugal keeps the estar form.