A1Lesson 7: Numbers, Counting & Dates
Brazilian Portuguese writes dates in day-month-year order with months lowercase and days as numbers (except the first), while the unique weekday naming system counts market days from Monday as "second-fair" through Friday as "sixth-fair."
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Brazilian dates follow this pattern:
Examples:
| Day | Portuguese | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | primeiro | ONLY ordinal |
| 2nd | dois | NOT segundo |
| 3rd | três | NOT terceiro |
| 15th | quinze | NOT décimo quinto |
| 31st | trinta e um | NOT trigésimo primeiro |
Remember: Only the first day is ordinal, everything else is cardinal!
| Portuguese | English | Days | Season (Brazil) |
|---|---|---|---|
| janeiro | January | 31 | Summer |
| fevereiro | February | 28/29 | Summer |
| março | March | 31 | Fall/Autumn |
| abril | April | 30 | Fall/Autumn |
| maio | May | 31 | Fall/Autumn |
| junho | June | 30 | Winter |
| julho | July | 31 | Winter |
| Portuguese | Short | English | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| segunda-feira | segunda/seg/2ª | Monday | second market |
| terça-feira | terça/ter/3ª | Tuesday | third market |
| quarta-feira | quarta/qua/4ª | Wednesday | fourth market |
| quinta-feira | quinta/qui/5ª | Thursday | fifth market |
| sexta-feira | sexta/sex/6ª | Friday | sixth market |
| sábado | sáb | Saturday | Sabbath |
| domingo | dom | Sunday | Lord's day |
Why "second" for Monday? Sunday was the first day in religious calendars, but markets were closed. So Monday = second day = first market day!
| Season | Portuguese | Months | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer | Verão | Dec-Mar | Hot, rainy, vacation time |
| Autumn | Outono | Mar-Jun | Mild, less rain |
| Winter | Inverno | Jun-Sep | "Cold" (15-20°C in most places) |
| Spring | Primavera | Sep-Dec | Flowers, warming up |
| agosto |
| August |
| 31 |
| Winter |
| setembro | September | 30 | Spring |
| outubro | October | 31 | Spring |
| novembro | November | 30 | Spring |
| dezembro | December | 31 | Summer |
