nädalapäeva

Nädalapäev is the Estonian term for a day of the week. It is a compound word formed from nädal (week) and päev (day), and the genitive singular is nädala-päeva written as nädalapäeva. This form is used in phrases that describe a specific weekday, such as nädalapäeva nimi (the name of a weekday) or nädalapäeva lõpp (the end of the week day).

The seven Estonian weekdays are Esmaspäev, Teisipäev, Kolmapäev, Neljapäev, Reede, Laupäev and Pühapäev. Esmaspäev means the first day, and Teisipäev the second day; Kolmapäev is the third day, and Neljapäev the fourth day. Reede, Laupäev and Pühapäev are the remaining days, corresponding to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In everyday use, these names are written with a capital initial and are the standard labels for calendar dates and planning.

In typical Estonian practice the workweek runs from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday forming the weekend. The term nädalavahetus is used to refer to the weekend as a whole. When referring to a specific day in a sentence, the genitive nädalapäeva is used in constructions such as “nädalapäeva nime kirjeldus” (description of the weekday’s name) or “nädalapäeva lõpp” (end of the week day). Overall, nädalapäev and its inflected form nädalapäeva are central to naming and discussing days within a week in Estonian.