In Brazilian Portuguese, we say the date in the format: day + de + month + de + year. Notice that the day precedes the month. For example, we say:
A reunião será no dia 20 de maio de 2023.
The meeting will be on May 20, 2023.
There are some other differences between Brazilian Portuguese and English when talking about dates as well. For instance, did you know that in Brazilian Portuguese we don't capitalize months and days of the week? If you want to learn more about date-related expressions in Brazilian Portuguese, like how to talk about longer time periods like decades and centuries, how to discuss important holidays, or how to use the most important adverbs and prepositions related to dates, keep reading this post!
To say and write the date in Brazilian Portuguese, we use the format day / month / year, with each element connected by the preposition de(from, of).
Hoje é (dia) quatro de maio de 2023.
Today is the fourth of May 2023.
lit. Today is the day fourth of May 2023.
Including the word dia (day) is optional, as you can see in the example above. Adding it brings a slightly more formal tone to the sentence.
When writing the date, we can also use only numbers to express a date, as long as we keep the same format of day / month / year.
04/05/2023
May 4, 2023 (05/04/2023)
In formal writing and official documents in Brazilian Portuguese, the date is represented in the format “city + day + month + year,” using a comma after the name of the city and the preposition de between the day and the month.
São Paulo, 4 de maio de 2023
São Paulo, May 4, 2023
Now let's see how to talk more specifically about days, months, and years!
See the days of the week in Brazilian Portuguese below and notice that they are not capitalized the way they are in English:
domingo(Sunday)
segunda-feira(Monday)
terça-feira(Tuesday)
quarta-feira(Wednesday)
quinta-feira(Thursday)
sexta-feira(Friday)
sábado(Saturday)
The “working days” are Monday to Friday (segunda a sexta). These are known as the dias úteis, and the names of all of these days are feminine words These days are each composed of an ordinal number followed by the word feira.
Though the names of the weekdays are based on ordinal numbers, we don’t say “Tuesday” ,❌ terceira-feira with the full form of the ordinal. Instead we say ✅ terça-feira.
In everyday language, it is very common to omit the word feira(fair) from the working days.
João não vai ao trabalho na quinta(-feira).
João does not go to work on Thursday.
We normally use the full name in formal work situations or for making appointments. In more informal situations, or if you are speaking with friends or family, it's more common to use the abbreviation quinta.
We can also indicate the days of the week (but never weekends) with the symbols ᵃ/ᵃˢ for feminine ordinal numbers.
Teremos reunião na 2a, 4a e 6a. Na 3a e na 5a, trabalharemos de casa.
We will have a meeting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday we will work from home.
The “weekend” is the fim de semana, and it includes Saturday and Sunday (sábado e domingo, which are both masculine words). In Brazilian Portuguese, domingo(Sunday) is considered the first day of the week, which is why the day after Sunday is called segunda-feira.
Domingo(Sunday) is named after Dies Dominicus, which in Latin means “the day of God.”
Sábado(Saturday) is the last day of the week on the Brazilian calendar, and it refers to the Sabbath, which is a term from Judaism.
The weekdays are composed of ordinal numbers followed by the word feira. This word can be traced back to the Latin root feria, which originally referred to “rest days.”
This nomenclature was created around the year 563 by a Portuguese bishop, and it was intended to be used only during the week preceding Easter, which, according to the Bible, should be a period of rest for Christians. However, this nomenclature was eventually adopted for all the other weeks of the year as well. If you are curious to know more about this, take a look at this article about the history of the days of the week in Portuguese for a brief overview.
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Roberta estuda português às terças-feiras.
Roberta studies Portuguese on Tuesdays.
Rodrigo visita a família aos sábados.
Rodrigo visits his family on Saturdays.
This means that you will use àsis used for working days, as they are feminine nouns, and aos for for sábado(Saturday) and domingo(Sunday), as they are masculine.
In Brazilian Portuguese, we use cardinal numbers (one, two, three, ...) to refer to the day of the month. This is different from English, which uses ordinal numbers (first, second, third).
Que dia é hoje?
What day is today?
Hoje é dia dezoito.
Today is the eighteenth.
OR
Hoje é dia 18.
Today is the 18th.
It's common to add the word dia(day) if you only mention the day, as in the example above.
We do use an ordinal number for the day of the month when we refer to the first day of the month.
O Ano Novo é comemorado no dia primeiro de janeiro.
New Year is celebrated on the first of January.
However, in all the other cases where the number um(1) appears, such as 21 and 31, we don't say “twenty-first” or “thirty-first.” Instead, we keep the cardinal number:
Hoje é dia vinte e um de abril.
Today is the twenty-first of April.
lit. Today is the day twenty-one of April.
O Dia das Bruxas é no dia trinta e um de outubro.
Halloween is on the thirty-first of October.
lit. Halloween is on the day thirty-one of October.
It’s important to know the numbers when talking about dates, so take a closer look at our post about numbers in Brazilian Portuguese for a quick refresher!
The Brazilian Portuguese word for “month” is mês (plural: meses), and you can see the name of each of the months in the chart below. You’ll see that the names of the months are similar to those used in many other languages!
janeiro January | fevereiro February | março March | abril April | maio May | junho June |
julho July | agosto August | setembro September | outubro October | novembro November | dezembro December |
Months in Brazilian Portuguese are not capitalized, unless they are at the beginning of the sentence.
Renata gosta de viajar em janeiro porque é verão.
Renata likes to travel in January because it's summer.
Janeiro é um dos meses mais quentes do ano no Brasil.
January is one of the hottest months of the year in Brazil.
Just like in English, in Brazilian Portuguese we most often use em(in) before the name of a month to describe something that happens during that month.
Em que mês você faz aniversário?
What month is your birthday?
Meu aniversário é em setembro.
My birthday is in September.
It’s difficult to talk about the months of the year without also talking about as estações do ano(the seasons of the year)! Let’s take a look at how to say the four seasons in Brazilian Portuguese, as well as when they occur:
Season | Months |
|---|---|
a primavera spring | setembro a novembro September to November |
o verão summer | dezembro a fevereiro December to February |
o outono autumn | março a maio March to May |
o inverno winter | junho a agosto June to August |
As you may have noticed in the table above, summer in Brazil is in January! However, except for in the south region, the seasons in Brazil are not very distinctive. The weather is generally tropical, with a dry season and a rainy season.
The dry season corresponds to the winter time (June to August), when there's less rainfall. This period can last for several months.
The wet season is summer (December to February), when it rains quite often.
However, Brazil is a very large country and the climate changes depending on the region.
All the seasons are masculine nouns, except for a primavera(spring).
Eu adoro a primavera, mas o outono também é muito agradável!
I love spring, but autumn is also very nice!
To review the months and seasons of the year in Brazilian Portuguese, check out our handy chart!
In Brazilian Portuguese, we typically say the year as a four-digit number. We use the conjunction e(and) between the number in the hundreds place, tens place, and ones place, but we don't use the e(and) between thousands and hundreds. For example:
mil oitocentos e cinquenta e dois
one thousand eight hundred fifty two
lit. one thousand eight hundred and fifty and two
mil novecentos e noventa
one thousand nine hundred ninety
lit. one thousand nine hundred and ninety
If the number in the hundreds place is a 0, we have to add e after the thousands:
dois mil e vinte e quatro
two thousand twenty-four
lit. two thousand and twenty and four
When the year ends in two zeroes, we add the conjunction e between the thousands and hundreds.
Os portugueses chegaram ao Brasil em mil e quinhentos.
The Portuguese people arrived in Brazil in 1500.
We could also add the word ano(year) to the name of the year, but this brings a more formal tone to the answer. In everyday language, it's more common to omit the word ano.
Paulo se mudou para a Alemanha no ano de dois mil e quinze.
Paulo moved to Germany in the year two thousand and fifteen.
Similar to English, when the century is already implied in the conversation, you can abbreviate it:
Em que ano você nasceu?
What year were you born?
Eu nasci em 89.
I was born in 89 (= 1989).
In Brazilian Portuguese, we must say the year as a number in the thousands. For example we cannot say the year 2019 as “twenty nineteen.” In Brazilian Portuguese this must be read just like you would read 2,019 in math: dois mil e dezenove(two thousand nineteen).
The rules for naming decades, centuries, and millenia are a bit different in Brazilian Portuguese than in English. Here are the rules:
Decades:
In Brazilian Portuguese, the word década(decade) refers to a period of 10 years. Anytime you want to refer to a decade in particular, you can do so by saying década de + starting year of the decade, as below:
Patrícia adora escutar música da década de 80.
Patrícia loves listening to music from the 80s.
It’s even more common to use the expression os anos 80(the 80s) to refer to the same period:
Patrícia adora escutar música dos anos 80.
Patrícia loves listening to music from the 80s.
Centuries:
The most common way to refer to a century in Brazilian Portuguese is by using the word século(century) followed by Roman numerals.
Muitos italianos imigraram para o Brasil no início do século XIX.
Many Italians immigrated to Brazil in the early 19th century.
A Internet surgiu no século XX.
The internet emerged in the 20th century.
Notice that, unlike in English, these Roman numerals are read as cardinal numbers, not ordinal numbers:
século XIX → século dezenove
the 19th century → (lit.) the nineteen century
Millennia:
To name a milênio(millenium) in Brazilian Portuguese, just put the appropriate ordinal number before the word milênio.
Muitas civilizações foram fundadas no primeiro milênio.
Many civilizations were founded in the first millennium.
A industrialização surgiu no segundo milênio.
Industrialization emerged in the second millennium.
In Brazilian Portuguese, we often use the prepositions of time em(in, on, at), para(for), and de… a(from... to) to introduce dates into a sentence.
Let’s look at each one individually.
You can use the preposition em to introduce the exact day when something occurs, as you might use “on” in English.
Gabriel nasceu em 05 de maio de 1990.
Gabriel was born on May 5, 1990.
You can also use em before the month or year when something occurs (as you might use “in” in English).
O Carnaval é em fevereiro.
Carnival is in February.
Gisele morou na França em 2019.
Gisele lived in France in 2019.
When using em with dates, you will sometimes need to use a contraction between em + the definite article.
em
on
o / a / os / as
the
no / na / nos / nas
on the
You’ll use this contraction in two main cases:
If you say the date using the optional words dia(day), mês(month), or ano(year) in your date.
Meu aniversário é no dia 25 de abril.
My birthday is on the 25th day of April.
O Carnaval é no mês de fevereiro.
Carnival is in the month of February.
Gisele morou na França no ano de 2019.
Gisele lived in France in the year of 2019.
When you are saying the day of the week or a holiday. Remember that some days of the week are masculine while others are feminine!
Nós fomos ao parque no domingo.
We went to the park on Sunday.
Você vai trabalhar na sexta?
Are you going to work on Friday?
Take a quick look at the full list of contractions in Brazilian Portuguese if you want a refresher on this topic.
You may also see the preposition para(for) to introduce a projected date or deadline, much like you might use “for” in English:
A reunião está programada para o dia 10 de maio.
The meeting is scheduled for May 10.
O show foi marcado para o dia 20 de julho.
The concert was scheduled for July 20th.
Sometimes we want to say the duration of an event or an action. In this case, we typically use the construction de… a… (from... to...). For example:
A loja está aberta de segunda a sábado.
The store is open from Monday to Saturday.
Os alunos estarão de férias de junho a agosto.
Students will be on vacation from June to August.
We could also use the same structure to refer to the days of the month and years.
There are several adverbs that can be used to refer to dates, days of the week, months, and years to more precisely indicate when an action or event occurs.
Hoje é sexta!
Today is Friday!
Patrícia terminará o mestrado no ano que vem.
Patrícia will finish her master's degree next year.
Take a look at this list with other useful adverbs to express dates!
When talking about dates in Brazilian Portuguese, keep these tips in mind:
We say dates in Brazilian Portuguese by using the format "day + month + year" connected by the preposition de(from, of).
Use cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, …) to refer to dates in Brazilian Portuguese.
Months and days of the week are not capitalized, unless they are at the beginning of a sentence.
Década(decade), século(century), and milênio(millennium) are words related to years.
The most common preposition for introducing a date em(in, on, at) or its contractions no, na, nos, nas(in the), but the prepositions and para(for) and de... a(from... to) can also be used.
There are also some adverbs that can indicate precisely when an action or event occurs.
Are you ready to practice what you learned about saying dates?
