European Portuguese capitalisation looks deceptively similar to English — proper names, places, and the start of a sentence all take a capital. But the moment you move to months, days of the week, nationalities, languages, religions, or job titles, the conventions diverge sharply. PT-PT is far more sparing with capital letters than English, and one of the most reliable signs that a learner is writing under English influence is the over-capitalisation of these everyday categories. The Acordo Ortográfico 1990 (AO90) reinforced this lowercase preference: months and weekdays were officially demoted from capital to lowercase under the reform.
This page lays out, category by category, what is capitalised and what is not, with the most common contrasts spelled out so you can override the English instinct. It also covers the few areas where capitalisation is optional or context-dependent — institutional names, historical periods, and acronyms — where the line between common noun and proper noun can be drawn either way.
Always capitalised
The following categories take an initial capital in every modern PT-PT text.
Start of a sentence, paragraph, or quoted speech
«Estou cansado», disse ele.
"I
Proper nouns: people, places, brands, organisations
O António nasceu em Lisboa.
António was born in Lisbon.
Vou visitar a Maria em Coimbra.
I'm going to visit Maria in Coimbra.
Estudei na Universidade de Lisboa antes de me mudar para Sintra.
I studied at the University of Lisbon before moving to Sintra.
Trabalho na Microsoft há sete anos.
I've worked at Microsoft for seven years.
O Mosteiro dos Jerónimos é um dos pontos mais visitados de Belém.
The Jerónimos Monastery is one of the most visited spots in Belém.
Note in the last two examples how the connective words inside a proper-noun phrase — de, dos, da, do — stay lowercase: Universidade de Lisboa, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Serra da Estrela, Câmara Municipal de Cascais. Capital letters fall on the content words; the small connectives don't.
Religious deity names and their personal pronouns
The proper names of deities are capitalised. So are pronouns that refer to a deity in religious texts (and only there).
Deus é amor.
God is love.
Os cristãos rezam a Deus, os muçulmanos a Alá.
Christians pray to God, Muslims to Allah.
Buda viveu há mais de dois mil e quinhentos anos.
Buddha lived more than two thousand five hundred years ago.
«Pai, Senhor do céu e da terra, bendigo-Te.»
"Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I bless You." (capitalised pronoun in religious address)
Personifications and abstract nouns in literary use
When an abstract concept is treated as a personified entity in poetic or literary writing, it takes a capital.
A Pátria chama os seus filhos.
The Fatherland calls its children. (literary personification)
A Liberdade é uma conquista de todos os dias.
Liberty is a daily conquest.
A Morte chegou de mansinho, sem aviso.
Death came softly, without warning.
In ordinary, non-personifying use, these same nouns are lowercase: a pátria deles é o Brasil (their homeland is Brazil), a liberdade de imprensa (freedom of the press), a morte é certa (death is certain).
Cardinal directions when used as proper region names
The four cardinal points are lowercase as directions but capitalised when they become proper names of regions.
O Norte de Portugal é mais frio do que o Sul.
The North of Portugal is colder than the South. (proper regions, capitalised)
O sol nasce a leste e põe-se a oeste.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. (directions, lowercase)
A América do Norte e a América do Sul têm climas muito distintos.
North America and South America have very distinct climates. (proper geographic names)
O vento sopra de norte.
The wind blows from the north. (direction, lowercase)
First word of book, film, song, or article titles
PT-PT title convention is first word and proper nouns capitalised, everything else lowercase. This is sometimes called sentence case in publishing, and it differs sharply from the English title case habit of capitalising every significant word.
Os Lusíadas, de Luís de Camões
The Lusiads, by Luís de Camões (proper noun in the title)
Memorial do convento, de José Saramago
Memorial of the Convent, by José Saramago (only first word capitalised)
O sol também se levanta, de Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises, by Hemingway (only first word and proper noun)
Sermão de santo António aos peixes, do Padre António Vieira
Sermon of Saint Anthony to the Fishes, by Father António Vieira
Many publishers and marketing departments still use English-style title case (O Sol Também Se Levanta) on book covers and posters, but for running prose, the academic convention is sentence case.
Holidays and feast days
Natal, Páscoa, Ano Novo
Christmas, Easter, New Year
Carnaval, Dia dos Santos, Dia de Reis
Carnival, All Saints' Day, Twelfth Night
No Natal a família toda se reúne em casa dos meus avós.
At Christmas the whole family gathers at my grandparents' house.
Historical periods, movements, and eras
Cultural and historical periods take capitals when used as proper names of the period.
O Renascimento mudou para sempre a arte europeia.
The Renaissance forever changed European art.
O Romantismo português produziu grandes obras.
Portuguese Romanticism produced great works.
Vivemos ainda os efeitos do Iluminismo.
We still live with the effects of the Enlightenment.
A Idade Média é o período mais longo da história europeia.
The Middle Ages are the longest period in European history.
Court, legal, and major institutional bodies
Specific named institutions take capitals.
O Tribunal Constitucional decidiu por unanimidade.
The Constitutional Court decided unanimously.
A Assembleia da República aprovou o orçamento.
The Assembly of the Republic approved the budget.
O Conselho de Ministros reuniu-se ontem em São Bento.
The Council of Ministers met yesterday at São Bento.
O Banco de Portugal divulgou novos dados sobre a inflação.
The Bank of Portugal released new inflation data.
Lowercase in PT-PT (where English capitalises)
This is the section worth committing to memory, because every item here is a likely transfer error.
Months of the year
All twelve months are lowercase in modern PT-PT. This was changed by AO90; before 2009 they were capitalised, and you will still see Janeiro, Fevereiro in pre-AO90 texts.
janeiro, fevereiro, março, abril, maio, junho
January, February, March, April, May, June (lowercase)
julho, agosto, setembro, outubro, novembro, dezembro
July, August, September, October, November, December (lowercase)
Vou para Lisboa em julho.
I'm going to Lisbon in July.
Em fevereiro chove muito no Norte.
In February it rains a lot in the North.
A minha filha nasceu a 14 de setembro de 2018.
My daughter was born on 14 September 2018.
Days of the week
The seven days of the week are lowercase, including the hyphenated forms segunda-feira through sexta-feira and the unhyphenated sábado and domingo. This was also fixed by AO90.
segunda-feira, terça-feira, quarta-feira, quinta-feira, sexta-feira
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
sábado, domingo
Saturday, Sunday
A reunião é à terça-feira de manhã.
The meeting is on Tuesday morning.
Ao domingo gosto de passear pelo parque.
On Sundays I like to walk in the park.
Seasons
The four seasons are lowercase.
primavera, verão, outono, inverno
spring, summer, autumn, winter
No verão fazemos sempre férias no Algarve.
In summer we always holiday in the Algarve.
O outono em Sintra é simplesmente lindo.
Autumn in Sintra is simply gorgeous.
Languages and language adjectives
The names of languages are lowercase, even though English always capitalises them.
português, inglês, francês, espanhol, alemão, italiano
Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian (all lowercase)
Falo português e inglês fluentemente.
I speak Portuguese and English fluently.
A Joana está a aprender japonês há dois anos.
Joana has been learning Japanese for two years.
O alemão é uma língua difícil para os portugueses.
German is a difficult language for the Portuguese.
Nationalities and ethnic groups (as nouns or adjectives)
Nationalities are lowercase in PT-PT, both as adjectives and as nouns. This is a major contrast with English, which capitalises the Portuguese, the French, an Italian etc.
Os portugueses adoram bacalhau.
The Portuguese love cod. (lowercase, even as a noun)
Tenho um amigo italiano que mora em Lisboa.
I have an Italian friend who lives in Lisbon.
Os franceses costumam jantar tarde.
The French usually eat dinner late.
Sou portuguesa e moro em Aveiro.
I'm Portuguese and I live in Aveiro.
A cozinha japonesa é muito apreciada em Portugal.
Japanese cuisine is much appreciated in Portugal.
The same logic applies to broader ethnic and cultural groups: os romanos, os celtas, os árabes, os judeus. They are common nouns in Portuguese, not proper nouns.
Os romanos ocuparam a Península Ibérica durante séculos.
The Romans occupied the Iberian Peninsula for centuries.
Religions and adherents
Religions and their followers are lowercase.
cristianismo, islão, judaísmo, budismo, hinduísmo
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism
cristão, muçulmano, judeu, budista, hindu
Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu
O Pedro é cristão e a Sara é judia.
Pedro is Christian and Sara is Jewish.
Mais de mil milhões de pessoas no mundo são muçulmanas.
More than a billion people in the world are Muslim.
Note that proper names of deities stay capitalised (Deus, Cristo, Alá, Buda) — see the section above. The pattern is: the institution and its members are common nouns; the deity is a proper noun.
Academic and professional titles in flowing prose
When a title is used descriptively in running prose, it is lowercase. When it's used in direct address (where you would say "Mr." or "Doctor" before someone's name in a formal greeting), it takes a capital.
| Lowercase (in prose) | Capital (in direct address or formal title) |
|---|---|
| o doutor António Costa visitou a feira | Sr. Doutor António Costa, agradeço-lhe... |
| o engenheiro Silva apresentou o projeto | Sr. Engenheiro, posso fazer uma pergunta? |
| o professor Saramago lecionava em Lisboa | Sr. Professor, podemos começar? |
| o presidente da câmara abriu a sessão | Sr. Presidente da Câmara, bom dia. |
O doutor Pereira recebeu-nos na consulta das três.
Doctor Pereira saw us at the three o'clock appointment. (descriptive, lowercase)
«Sr. Doutor, o paciente está à espera», disse a enfermeira.
"Doctor, the patient is waiting," said the nurse. (direct address, capital)
Job titles, even when prestigious
The general principle: a job title used as a description is lowercase; the same title used as the formal designation of a specific named office is capitalised.
O presidente da câmara de Lisboa é eleito a cada quatro anos.
The mayor of Lisbon is elected every four years. (descriptive)
O Presidente da República discursou na Assembleia.
The President of the Republic gave a speech at the Assembly. (formal designation of the office)
O ministro da Educação anunciou novas medidas.
The Minister for Education announced new measures.
The line between the two is thin and in practice not entirely consistent, even in PT-PT newspapers — Presidente da República and Primeiro-Ministro almost always capitalise, but ministro da Educação sometimes lowercases. When in doubt, lowercase is the safer default.
In titles of works (more detail)
PT-PT publishing convention for titles is sentence case: first word capitalised, all proper nouns capitalised, everything else lowercase. This is less varied than the English title-case rules and more consistent.
A jangada de pedra (Saramago)
The Stone Raft
Memorial do convento (Saramago)
Memorial of the Convent
Os Maias (Eça de Queirós)
The Maias (capital because *Maias* is a proper noun, the family name)
O crime do Padre Amaro (Eça de Queirós)
The Crime of Father Amaro
Mensagem (Pessoa)
Message
The book Os Lusíadas keeps its capital because the article Os is the first word and Lusíadas (the descendants of Luso) is a proper noun. The book Memorial do convento lowercases do convento because they are common-noun connectives.
For films, songs, and articles the same logic applies. Marketing copy will sometimes deviate, but for academic and editorial work, sentence case is the standard.
Acronyms
All-caps acronyms
Most acronyms in PT-PT are written in all capitals with no dots between letters — the modern style drops the punctuation.
ONU, EUA, UE, IRS, OTAN, NATO
UN, USA, EU, income tax, NATO
A UE financiou várias autoestradas em Portugal.
The EU funded several motorways in Portugal.
Os PALOP (Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa) são cinco.
The PALOP countries (Portuguese-speaking African nations) are five.
The dotted forms E.U.A., O.N.U. are still occasionally used in older or more formal documents but are increasingly rare. Modern style is EUA, ONU.
Acronyms turned into common nouns
A handful of acronyms have become so familiar that they are written as lowercase common nouns — they are no longer felt as initialisms.
radar, laser, sida
radar, laser, AIDS (all lexicalised, lowercase)
A sida é uma doença grave.
AIDS is a serious disease.
O radar do polícia detetou-o a 130 km/h.
The police's radar caught him at 130 km/h.
Mixed-case acronyms
Some shorter forms with internal complexity use mixed case: PME (small and medium enterprises), but also PCdoP (the Communist Party of Portugal — the do is lowercased as a connective).
Pronouns: always lowercase, including eu
Portuguese personal pronouns are always lowercase, including the first-person singular eu. English famously capitalises I in mid-sentence; Portuguese does not.
Eu acho que tens razão.
I think you're right. (capital E only because of sentence start)
Quando eu cheguei, ele já tinha saído.
When I arrived, he had already left. (lowercase eu mid-sentence)
Disse-lhe que eu não podia ir.
I told him that I couldn't go.
The exception is in religious writing, where pronouns referring to the divine are sometimes capitalised: Tu (You, addressing God), Ele (He, referring to God). Outside religious contexts, never.
«Senhor, Tu és o meu refúgio.»
"Lord, You are my refuge." (religious address)
Forms of address: pronouns of respect
Pronouns of polite address (você, vossa excelência, vossa majestade) are typically capitalised when used directly addressing the person, particularly in formal correspondence. In flowing description, they often lowercase.
Vossa Excelência tem razão.
Your Excellency is right. (formal address)
Vossa Majestade pode contar com a nossa lealdade.
Your Majesty can count on our loyalty.
O senhor pode entrar.
You may come in. (third-person formal *o senhor*; conventionally lowercase here)
Disse-me a Sra. Doutora que voltava amanhã.
The Doctor told me she was coming back tomorrow. (the abbreviated title is capitalised)
Geographic and proper-noun phrases
The pattern: capitalise the distinctive part of the name, lowercase the descriptive prefix (mountain, river, sea, etc.), unless the prefix is part of the official name.
o rio Tejo, o rio Douro, o rio Mondego
the Tagus, Douro, Mondego rivers (the *rio* is lowercase descriptor)
a Serra da Estrela, a Serra de Sintra
the Serra da Estrela, the Serra de Sintra (Serra is part of the official name, capitalised)
o Atlântico, o Mediterrâneo
the Atlantic, the Mediterranean
o Porto, o Algarve, o Alentejo, o Minho
(city of) Porto, the Algarve, the Alentejo, the Minho
o Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a Torre de Belém, o Castelo de São Jorge
the Jerónimos Monastery, the Tower of Belém, St. George's Castle
The rule of thumb: content words capitalised, function words lowercase within a proper noun phrase.
A side-by-side table: English vs PT-PT
| Category | English | PT-PT |
|---|---|---|
| Months | January, February | janeiro, fevereiro |
| Days of week | Monday, Tuesday | segunda-feira, terça-feira |
| Seasons | Spring, Summer (often capitalised) | primavera, verão |
| Languages | Portuguese, French | português, francês |
| Nationalities (adj.) | Portuguese, French | português, francês |
| Nationalities (noun) | the Portuguese, a Frenchman | os portugueses, um francês |
| Religions | Christianity, Islam | cristianismo, islão |
| Adherents | Christian, Muslim | cristão, muçulmano |
| 1st-person sg pronoun | I | eu |
| Compass (direction) | north, south | norte, sul |
| Compass (region) | the North, the South | o Norte, o Sul |
| Title (book) | The Sun Also Rises | O sol também se levanta |
AO90 changes to capitalisation
The Acordo Ortográfico 1990 made the lowercase preference official for several categories that pre-2009 PT-PT had capitalised. The shift was small but visible.
| Pre-AO90 | AO90 (current) | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Janeiro, Fevereiro, Março... | janeiro, fevereiro, março... | months |
| Segunda-feira, Terça-feira... | segunda-feira, terça-feira... | days of week |
| Primavera, Verão, Outono, Inverno | primavera, verão, outono, inverno | seasons (capitalisation now optional, lowercase preferred) |
You will still see capitalised forms in pre-2009 PT-PT books, in private correspondence by older speakers, and in some institutional documents that haven't updated. They are not "wrong" historically — they just no longer match the current standard.
Common mistakes
❌ Janeiro, Fevereiro, Março
Months are lowercase in PT-PT under AO90. Capitalising them is an English-influenced error or pre-2009 spelling.
✅ janeiro, fevereiro, março
January, February, March
❌ Sou Português e falo Inglês.
Nationalities and language names are lowercase in PT-PT, even when used as nouns or adjectives.
✅ Sou português e falo inglês.
I am Portuguese and I speak English.
❌ A reunião é na Segunda-feira.
Days of the week are lowercase. The hyphen stays; only the capitalisation is wrong.
✅ A reunião é na segunda-feira.
The meeting is on Monday.
❌ acho Que Eu tenho razão.
The first-person singular pronoun *eu* is lowercase in PT-PT, unlike English *I*. Mid-sentence words don't take random capitals.
✅ Acho que eu tenho razão.
I think I'm right.
❌ Eu sou Cristão e ela é Muçulmana.
Religions and their adherents are lowercase: *cristão, muçulmano, judeu*. The deity (Deus, Alá) stays capitalised.
✅ Eu sou cristão e ela é muçulmana.
I am Christian and she is Muslim.
❌ O sol nasce no Leste.
When *leste, oeste, norte, sul* are used as **directions** (not as named regions), they are lowercase.
✅ O sol nasce a leste.
The sun rises in the east.
❌ O Sol Também Se Levanta (book title)
PT-PT title convention is sentence case: only first word and proper nouns capitalised. Title case is an English habit.
✅ O sol também se levanta
The Sun Also Rises (PT-PT sentence-case title)
Key takeaways
- PT-PT capitalises proper nouns, sentence starts, deities, holidays, historical periods, and named institutions.
- PT-PT keeps lowercase for months, weekdays, seasons, languages, nationalities, religions, adherents, and the personal pronoun eu. All of these contrast with English, which capitalises them.
- AO90 made the lowercase forms of months and weekdays the official standard (pre-2009 capitalised forms are still seen in older texts).
- Cardinal directions are lowercase as directions (o sol nasce a leste) but capitalised when they become proper region names (o Norte de Portugal).
- Job titles in flowing prose are lowercase (o presidente da câmara); in direct address or as the formal designation of an office, capitalised (Sr. Presidente, o Presidente da República).
- Titles of works follow sentence case: first word and proper nouns capitalised, everything else lowercase (O sol também se levanta, not O Sol Também Se Levanta).
- Acronyms are written in all caps without dots (ONU, EUA, UE, IRS); a handful have lexicalised as common nouns (radar, laser, sida).
- Connective words (de, do, da, dos, das, e) inside proper-noun phrases stay lowercase: Universidade de Lisboa, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
Related Topics
- Portuguese Spelling OverviewA1 — An orienting tour of European Portuguese orthography — alphabet, diacritics, digraphs, nasal spelling, and the Acordo Ortográfico 1990 reforms that still affect every modern PT-PT text.
- Hyphenation RulesB1 — When European Portuguese uses the hyphen — with prefixes, in compound words, in numerals, in days of the week, and at line ends — under the Acordo Ortográfico 1990.
- Common Spelling ErrorsA2 — The Portuguese spelling rules learners get wrong most often — ss vs ç, when to use h, silent letters, and the full system of accents (post-1990 orthography).
- Proper Nouns and CapitalizationA2 — Portuguese rules for capitalizing names, places, titles, months, days, languages, and nationalities — including changes brought by the 1990 Orthographic Agreement.