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Todo Dia or O Dia Todo? Learn How To Say It! (With Video)


By Luciana Lage - Posted on 01 March 2009

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I had the idea to write this post while I was teaching a class yesterday. My student had a few questions; he was confused about how to say "every day" and "the whole day" in Portuguese. It can be a bit confusing, I admit. 

 

So here it goes, a few expressions that will not be confusing to you anymore.

 

There are two ways to say "every day":

  • Todo dia
or
  • Todos os dias
 

Todo dia and todos os dias are interchangeable.

 

Exemplos:

  • Dani malha todo dia. (Dani works out every day)
  • Mariana come chocolate todos os dias. (Mariana eats chocolate every day)

Now comes what can be a bit confusing. Here is how you say "the whole day":

 
  • O dia todo
or
  • Todo o dia
 

O dia todo and todo o dia are interchangeable.

 

Exemplos:

  • Ontem Leonardo passou o dia todo na praia. (Yesterday Leonardo spent the whole day at the beach)
  • É uma longa viagem de São Francisco a Recife. Às vezes, leva todo o dia para chegar lá. (It is a long trip from San Francisco to Recife. Sometimes it takes the whole day to get there.)
 

This is a very important pattern as it applies to all other similar expressions. Yesterday's class inspired great "aha!" moments. I hope this post can help you, too. Please check out the tables below for more.

 

Every week

Toda semana

Janete joga baralho toda semana.
(Janete plays cards every week)

Todas as semanas

Diogo escreve novos artigos todas as semanas.
(Diogo writes new articles every week
)

 

 

 

Every weekend

Todo fim de semana

Eu vou à praia todo fim de semana.<span style="font-family:Georgia;"
(I go to the beach every weekend)

Todos os fins de semana

Helena visita os pais dela todos os fins de semana.                                                      
(Helena visits her parents every weekend)

 

 

 

Every month

Todo mês

Tiago e Clara fazem trabalho voluntário todo mês.              
(Tiago and Clara do volunteer work every month)

Todos os meses

Vanessa vai à Lake Tahoe todos os meses.
(Vanessa goes to Tahoe every month)

 

 

 

Every year

Todo ano

Eu vou ao Brasil todo ano.          
(I go to Brazil every year)

Todos os anos

Ricardo troca de carro todos os anos.
(Ricardo changes his car every year)

 
 

The whole week

A semana toda

João trabalha a semana toda.        
(João works the whole week)

Toda a semana

Marcos passou toda a semana gripado. 
(Marcos spent the whole week with a cold)

 

 

 

The whole weekend

O fim de semana todo

Vitória passou o fim de semana todo ensaiando.                          
(Vitória spent the whole weekend rehearsing)

Todo o fim de semana

Rosa passou todo o  fim de semana preparando a apresentação.   
(Rosa spent the whole weekend preparing the presentation)

 

 

 

The whole month

O mês todo

Estou de férias e quero viajar o mês todo.   
(I am on vacation and want to travel the whole month)

Todo o mês

Glória vai ficar todo o mês de julho na Bahia.      
(Glória will stay the whole month of July in Bahia)

 

 

 

The whole year

O ano todo

Carol quer viajar o ano todo.
(Carol wants to travel the whole year)

Todo o ano

Cecília sempre passa todo o ano esperando suas férias.            
(Cecília always spends the whole year waiting for her vacation)

 

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