When Portuguese needs to say what time it is, what day it is, or where an event takes place, the verb is always ser — never estar, never ficar. These uses are grouped together because they share an underlying logic: they all express scheduled or fixed points in time and space. An event does not just "happen to be" somewhere; it is defined by when and where it occurs. The clock does not "currently find itself" at eight o'clock; eight o'clock is the time. Portuguese treats these as matters of identity, and identity belongs to ser.
This page covers the four main territories where ser is mandatory: telling the time, stating days and dates, naming seasons and months, and locating events. The last one — event location — is the point where English speakers most often slip, because English does not force the distinction that Portuguese does. A good grasp here will save you from a very common beginner error.
Ser in the present: a quick reminder
Before the examples, the paradigm you need. Ser is deeply irregular, but the forms are short and become automatic with use.
| Person | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | sou | I am |
| tu | és | you are |
| ele / ela / você | é | he/she is; you are |
| nós | somos | we are |
| eles / elas / vocês | são | they are; you all are |
For time, dates, and events the subject is usually impersonal, so you will mostly use just two forms: é (singular) and são (plural).
Telling the time
Portuguese agrees the verb with the number of hours. One o'clock is singular; every other hour is plural.
É uma hora.
It's one o'clock.
São oito da noite.
It's eight in the evening.
São três e meia.
It's half past three.
Que horas são? — São dez menos um quarto.
What time is it? — It's a quarter to ten. (literally: ten minus a quarter)
To specify morning, afternoon, or evening, use da manhã (in the morning), da tarde (in the afternoon), or da noite (in the evening).
São seis da manhã — é muito cedo para ligar.
It's six in the morning — it's way too early to call.
O comboio parte à uma e vinte da tarde.
The train leaves at one twenty in the afternoon.
In more formal or written contexts — schedules, announcements, timetables — you will often see the 24-hour clock without da manhã / da tarde:
A sessão começa às vinte e uma horas.
The session starts at twenty-one hundred (9 p.m.). (formal)
Noon and midnight
É meio-dia — vamos almoçar?
It's noon — shall we have lunch?
Notice that meio-dia and meia-noite behave as singular subjects: é, not são.
Days of the week
Days of the week in Portuguese are feminine (except sábado and domingo) and usually take the article a in time expressions, but when stating what day it is, you simply use é:
Hoje é segunda-feira.
Today is Monday.
Amanhã é quarta-feira — tenho uma reunião às nove.
Tomorrow is Wednesday — I have a meeting at nine.
Ontem foi domingo, hoje já é segunda. As férias acabaram.
Yesterday was Sunday, today is already Monday. The holidays are over.
Dates
Stating the date follows the same pattern: é + date. In European Portuguese after the 1990 Orthographic Accord, month names are written in lowercase (abril, not Abril).
Hoje é 17 de abril.
Today is the 17th of April.
Amanhã é 25 de abril — é feriado nacional.
Tomorrow is the 25th of April — it's a national holiday.
A minha filha nasceu a 3 de janeiro de 2019.
My daughter was born on the 3rd of January, 2019.
To ask the date, the standard question is A quantos estamos? (literally "on how many are we?") — one of the few time-related questions that uses estar rather than ser. The answer, however, uses ser in the third person:
A quantos estamos hoje? — É dia 17.
What's the date today? — It's the 17th.
Months and seasons
Statements about which month or season it is use ser:
Já é verão — as praias estão cheias.
It's already summer — the beaches are packed.
Ainda é março, mas está um calor de verão.
It's still March, but it's as hot as summer.
Em Portugal, dezembro é mês de chuva e de castanhas assadas.
In Portugal, December is a month of rain and roasted chestnuts.
Note how the second example shows both verbs working together: é março (the calendar fact, identity → ser) but está um calor (the current weather condition → estar). This pairing is one of the clearest illustrations of the ser/estar split.
Event location: the key rule
Here is the point that trips up almost every English speaker. When you say where an event takes place — a wedding, a concert, a meeting, a party, a class — Portuguese uses ser, not estar.
A festa é na minha casa.
The party is at my place.
O casamento é em Lisboa, na igreja de São Domingos.
The wedding is in Lisbon, at the São Domingos church.
O concerto é no sábado, às vinte e uma horas, no Coliseu.
The concert is on Saturday, at nine p.m., at the Coliseu.
A reunião é às dez, na sala ao lado.
The meeting is at ten, in the next-door room.
Why ser and not estar?
The logic becomes clear when you compare two sentences that look almost identical in English but require different verbs in Portuguese:
| Portuguese | English | Why this verb? |
|---|---|---|
| O jantar é no restaurante. | The dinner is at the restaurant. | Event → ser (the dinner takes place there) |
| O pai está no restaurante. | Dad is at the restaurant. | Person / location → estar (he's physically there right now) |
The dinner does not physically sit at the restaurant — it happens at the restaurant. That makes the restaurant part of the dinner's identity: the dinner is a restaurant dinner. Your father, by contrast, could be anywhere; he just happens to be at the restaurant tonight. So the dinner takes ser and your father takes estar.
More contrastive pairs to anchor the rule:
O exame é na sala 3. — Os alunos já estão na sala 3.
The exam is in room 3. — The students are already in room 3.
A aula de ginástica é no ginásio. — As chaves do ginásio estão com o porteiro.
The gym class is at the gym. — The gym keys are with the doorman.
O concerto é no estádio. — Os músicos ainda não estão no estádio.
The concert is at the stadium. — The musicians aren't at the stadium yet.
Recurring events and scheduled times
Ser also handles when a regular or scheduled event happens — the "when" of a class, a shop opening, a TV show, a weekly meeting. Portuguese combines ser with days of the week introduced by ao (for masculine days: sábado, domingo) or à (for feminine days: segunda, terça, etc.).
A aula de português é à terça e à quinta, às sete da tarde.
The Portuguese class is on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at seven in the evening.
O mercado é ao sábado de manhã, na praça da vila.
The market is on Saturday mornings, in the village square.
O jogo é no domingo às seis.
The match is on Sunday at six.
Common mistakes
1. Using estar for event location.
❌ A festa está na minha casa.
Incorrect — events take ser, not estar, even when they are in a specific location.
✅ A festa é na minha casa.
The party is at my place.
2. Using estar with time.
❌ Estão três horas.
Incorrect — Portuguese never uses estar for telling the time.
✅ São três horas.
It's three o'clock.
3. Forgetting verb–number agreement with hours.
❌ É oito da noite.
Incorrect — eight is plural, so the verb must be plural too.
✅ São oito da noite.
It's eight in the evening.
Remember the exception: é uma hora (it's one o'clock), singular because uma is singular. Also é meio-dia and é meia-noite.
4. Confusing event location with object location.
❌ O bolo de aniversário é na mesa.
Incorrect if you mean the cake sits on the table — a cake is an object, not an event.
✅ O bolo de aniversário está na mesa.
The birthday cake is on the table.
✅ A festa de aniversário é em casa do Pedro.
The birthday party is at Pedro's house.
5. Capitalizing months and days.
❌ Hoje é Segunda-feira, 17 de Abril.
Incorrect under the 1990 Orthographic Accord — days and months are lowercase.
✅ Hoje é segunda-feira, 17 de abril.
Today is Monday, the 17th of April.
Key takeaways
- Time, date, day, month, and season always take ser.
- Hour agreement: é for one o'clock, noon, and midnight; são for all other hours.
- Event location takes ser because the event is defined by where it happens. The test: can you say "takes place"? Then use ser.
- Object and person location takes estar (covered in the next page). A cake on a table, a person in a room — estar.
- The contrast is not about permanence versus change. It is about identity versus presence. Events are their place and time; people and things are located somewhere for now.
Related Topics
- Ser, Estar, Ficar: Three Verbs for 'To Be'A1 — European Portuguese splits the English verb 'to be' into three: ser for identity and essence, estar for current states and location, and ficar for becoming and fixed location. This page gives the high-level map.
- Ser for Identity and ClassificationA1 — Ser is the verb of what something is — the essential identity, category, and defining characteristics. This page maps every major use of ser in European Portuguese.
- Estar for LocationA1 — Using estar to locate people and movable objects — with the three-way split between estar (movable), ser (events), and ficar (permanent structures).
- Ficar for Permanent LocationA2 — Using ficar to locate cities, buildings, and geographical features — the preferred European Portuguese verb for permanent places.
- Present Indicative of SerA1 — The highly irregular verb ser in the present tense