At a glance
- The 7 days: lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì, sabato, domenica
- Capital letters: never, except at the beginning of a sentence
- Gender: all masculine, except domenica (feminine)
- Without article: a specific day (lunedì vado dal medico)
- With article: a repeated habit (il lunedì vado in palestra)
The days of the week in Italian follow the same logic as in other Romance languages, inherited from Latin and Roman deities. Two rules, however, clearly distinguish Italian: the absence of capital letters and the use of the article, which changes the meaning of the sentence rather than just its form.
The 7 days of the week
| Italian | English | Stressed syllable |
|---|---|---|
| lunedì | Monday | last syllable |
| martedì | Tuesday | last syllable |
| mercoledì | Wednesday | last syllable |
| giovedì | Thursday | last syllable |
| venerdì | Friday | last syllable |
| sabato | Saturday | first syllable |
| domenica | Sunday | second syllable |
The first five days all carry a grave accent on the final ì, which marks the stressed syllable. Sabato and domenica break this pattern: they do not end in dì and shift the stress towards the beginning of the word.
The origin of the names: from Roman gods to the calendar
Five of the seven days associate the name of a Roman deity with the word dies (day) in Latin.
| Day | Latin origin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lunedì | lunae dies | day of the Moon |
| martedì | Martis dies | day of Mars, god of war |
| mercoledì | Mercurii dies | day of Mercury, god of commerce |
| giovedì | Iovis dies | day of Jupiter (Giove) |
| venerdì | Veneris dies | day of Venus |
Sabato and domenica follow a different logic. Sabato comes from the Hebrew shabbat, the day of rest, while domenica derives from the Latin dies Dominica, the Lord’s day. Neither retains the “deity + dies” structure of the five preceding days.
Gender and capital letters: the rules to know
Two points clearly distinguish Italian from English in the writing of the days of the week.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Capital letter | None, even at the top of a list or table: lunedì, never Lunedì (except at the beginning of a sentence) |
| Gender | Masculine for the first six days (il lunedì, il sabato…), feminine only for domenica (la domenica) |
With or without article: specific day or habit
The definite article before a day of the week changes the meaning of the sentence, unlike in English where “Monday” and “on Mondays” are distinguished by the preposition and plural form.
| Construction | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Without article: a specific day | Torno a casa giovedì sera. | I’m going home on Thursday evening (this Thursday). |
| With article: a habit | In palestra vado sempre il mercoledì. | I always go to the gym on Wednesdays (every week). |
This distinction relies directly on how Italian definite articles work: il, la and their variants change the temporal scope of the sentence, without affecting the day itself.
Cultural references and expressions
Some days carry a particular connotation in Italian culture, beyond their simple translation.
- Martedì 17 is considered an unlucky day in Italy, the equivalent of Friday the 13th in other cultures.
- A proverb sums up an old superstition about weddings and departures: “Né di Venere né di Marte, non si sposa e non si parte” (neither on a Friday nor on a Tuesday, one does not marry nor set off on a journey).
- The Italian week officially begins on lunedì, in accordance with the international standard ISO 8601, unlike Anglo-Saxon calendars which start on Sunday.
Additional vocabulary for situating a day
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| oggi | today |
| ieri | yesterday |
| domani | tomorrow |
| dopodomani | the day after tomorrow |
| la settimana scorsa | last week |
| la settimana prossima | next week |
| il fine settimana | the weekend |
| ogni giorno | every day |
This vocabulary naturally combines with the months of the year in Italian to situate a complete date, from the day of the week to the month in question.
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