Log inSign up

Hoje é terça-feira.

Hoje é terça-feira.
Today is Tuesday.
From Lesson 22:Days of the week (segunda-feira)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Hoje é terça-feira.

ser
to be
hoje
today
a terça-feira
the Tuesday

Questions & Answers about Hoje é terça-feira.

Why does the word for Tuesday, terça-feira, have a hyphen and the word feira?
In Portuguese, weekdays from Monday to Friday are numbered. Terça means third, so Tuesday is the third day of the week (counting Sunday as the first). The word feira originally meant market or fair and is always attached with a hyphen to the days Monday through Friday.
Can I just say terça instead of the full word terça-feira?
Yes! In everyday spoken Portuguese, it is very common to drop -feira and simply say Hoje é terça.
Why isn't terça-feira capitalized like Tuesday is in English?
In Portuguese, days of the week, months, and seasons are always written in lowercase letters unless they appear at the very beginning of a sentence.
Why do we use é (from the verb ser) instead of está (from estar) to talk about today?
Even though today changes every day, dates and days of the week are considered fixed facts on the calendar. In Portuguese, we always use the permanent verb ser to state the time, day, or date.
Should I use the word for the before the day, like Hoje é a terça-feira?
No, when you are simply stating what day today is, you do not use the definite article. You just use the verb é followed directly by the day of the week.

Learn Hoje é terça-feira and more in Portuguese

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Portuguese →