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- "Eu não trabalho nas segundas…
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My understanding is that only "segundo" means second (one sixtieth of a minute) and is based on dictionary definitions such as this one: http://www.priberam.pt/dlpo/segunda
It would be helpful if you could explain why you believe what you say is true.
I also think it can be helpful, as long as there is a resource at hand. Needing to go to a forum and wait for an answer might not be ideal, though in my case - since I'm looking at all this years after the rest of you - many of you have answered the questions in the forum. Still, I like the Russian units because they offer explanations up front, before the lesson begins, of certain concepts that will be introduced, when there are exceptions, etc. It's an easy reference point that doesn't require you to go looking for outside resources.
I see what you mean and you're right it is misleading. I tried to find a justification for that hint but mostly failed. The best I could come up with is that in Brazilian Portuguese "de segunda" means "of inferior quality" and in English we might call such things "seconds". I don't know much about music, but apparently an interval spanning two consecutive notes in a diatonic scale is called a "second" in English and a "segunda" in Portuguese. I guess it is just a bad hint though.
[Edit: The hint has been altered since I made this comment.]
In general if you want to write "in/on the" you use one of "em + o/os/a/as" = "no/nos/na/nas" where the choice depends on the number and gender of the following word. In this case that word is "segundas-feiras" which is feminine-plural so you choose "nas" here. Or do you mean when is the article necessary?
Do you mean you saw a translation using the English word "second"? That would be odd.
In Portuguese the days of the week, apart from Saturday and Sunday, are simply numbered with Sunday notionally the first day making Monday the second day. (That's a bit of a simplification, but you can find more about this issue by reading MelinaArins contribution to this discussion: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/8894981 )
I can see the point raised by many about the distinction between seconds and Mondays; however, the Portuguese translation for the plural of the English word "second" is "segundos", whilst the Portuguese translation for Monday is "segundas", which provides a clear distinction between the two.
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When I had "Eu não trabalho às segundas-feiras", it was said that this was recommended before "Eu não trabalho nas segundas". Which one is best to use?