Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A médica não trabalha na quarta-feira.

A médica não trabalha na quarta-feira.

The doctor does not work on Wednesday.

Breakdown of A médica não trabalha na quarta-feira.

Questions & Answers about A médica não trabalha na quarta-feira.

Why do we use na before quarta-feira to say "on Wednesday"?

In English, we say "on" a day, but in Portuguese, you use the preposition em (in/on/at) plus a definite article (the word for "the"). Because all weekdays ending in -feira are feminine, you combine em + a to make na. You are essentially saying "in the Wednesday".

Do I always have to say the -feira part of quarta-feira?

In everyday spoken Portuguese, people often drop -feira and just say quarta if the context is clear. However, it is good to learn the full name first, as you will see it written out on official schedules, signs, and calendars.

How do we know from this sentence that the doctor is a woman?

The word for doctor changes based on gender. Because the sentence uses A médica (with the feminine letter "a" at the end, and the feminine word for "the", A, at the start), we know this specific doctor is female. A male doctor would be O médico.

Why is there no Portuguese word for "does" in não trabalha?

In English, we need helper words like "does" or "do" to make a negative sentence (like "does not work"). Portuguese is much simpler! You just put não directly in front of the verb. So, não trabalha completely covers "does not work".