Days of the Week: Gender

The system is actually quite logical once you see the hidden pattern. You have seven days in a week, and they are split into two groups. Five of these days are known as "feiras." The word feira literally means "market" or "fair." In the 6th century, a bishop decided to replace pagan names (like those for Moon or Mars) with numbers. Since the word feira is feminine, all the days that include it become feminine too. You say a segunda-feira because feira is the boss of the phrase. It acts as a grammatical anchor, pulling the gender to the feminine side. Then you have the weekend. Sábado and domingo are the outliers. They do not have "feira" in their names, and they are masculine. They use the article o. Think of it as a clear split: five feminine workdays and two masculine weekend days. It is like a grammar traffic light; once you see the "feira," you know you are in feminine territory.

1. 1Start with the first day of the liturgical week: domingo. This is masculine (o domingo).
2. 2Move to the second day, which is Monday: segunda-feira. This is feminine (a segunda-feira).
3. 3Continue counting your way through the week: terça-feira, quarta-feira, quinta-feira, and sexta-feira.
4. 4All five of these "numbered" days are feminine because they are markets. They use the article a.
5. 5Finally, you reach the seventh day: sábado. This is masculine (o sábado).
6. 6An important note: in daily conversation, you can drop the word feira entirely.
7. 7You can simply say a segunda or a terça. The gender stays feminine even without the anchor word.
8. 8The overall pattern is: Masc (Sun) -> Fem (Mon-Fri) -> Masc (Sat).
9. 9Think of it like a sandwich: masculine bread on the ends with a long feminine filling in the middle.

You will use these genders every single time you make a plan. Imagine you have a business meeting on Monday. You would tell your colleague, "A reunião é na segunda." Notice the word na. This is a contraction of em (on/in) and a (the). It only works because Monday is feminine. If you have a job interview on quinta-feira (Thursday), you say, "O meu teste é na quinta." Now, think about your social life. You want to meet a friend at the beach on Saturday. You would suggest, "Vamos à praia no sábado?" Here, you use no because it is em plus o. It is masculine. You use these genders when setting deadlines, inviting people to dinner, or even just checking your calendar. If you are talking about a routine, like going to the gym, you use the plural: "Eu vou ao ginásio às terças" (I go to the gym on Tuesdays). It is the heartbeat of your daily coordination.

Do not let the gender of the days confuse you when using the word dia (day). The word dia is always masculine (o dia), even if you are talking about a feminine day like a sexta. This is a common trap! You say "O dia de sexta-feira foi longo" (Friday was a long day). Also, do not apply these "feira" rules to months or years. Janeiro (January) and Março (March) are masculine, but not because of the days. Don't worry about gender for specific times of the day either; as horas (the hours) follow their own feminine rule. The "feira" logic is strictly for the names of the seven days. Keep your focus sharp on the specific names, and you won't get lost in the forest of Portuguese nouns.

The most frequent slip-up for beginners is calling Monday o segunda. It feels natural to think "day" is masculine, so the name should be too. But remember, the "feira" wins every time! Another big mistake is using no for everything. You might accidentally say no terça. To a native speaker, that sounds a bit like saying "a boy girl." Always use na for any day that ends in (or implies) feira. Also, watch out for sábado. Some learners get so used to the feminine weekdays that they try to make the weekend feminine too, saying a sábado. That is a total no-go. Sábado is a masculine sanctuary. Lastly, check your plurals. It is as segundas, never os segundas. Yes, even native speakers mess this up when they are exhausted, but you can do better! Think of the weekend as your masculine anchor.

If you have studied Spanish, you might be in for a surprise. In Spanish, every single day is masculine: el lunes, el martes, el sábado. Portuguese decided to be much more unique. We use the numbering system which comes from Latin influence. In the 6th century, a bishop wanted to move away from pagan gods. He didn't want to honor the Moon or Mars. So he used segunda (second) through sexta (sixth). This makes Portuguese the only Romance language to use this specific numeric and gendered system for weekdays. English is also different because we don't have gendered nouns at all. We just say "The Monday." In Portuguese, the gender is baked into the DNA of the word. It is like a grammar traffic light: green for masculine weekends, red for feminine weekdays. It helps you navigate the flow of your new language.