If you, like about 252.1 million other people, watched Wednesday on Netflix, then you’re familiar with an unconventional use of the word for a day of the week. But most of the time, when we talk about Wednesday, we’re referring to the middle of the week, not America’s favorite goth girl. But what does that mean about the capitalization rules for these days? Do you capitalize days of the week? Let’s take a look at days of the week capitalization and see what the rules are!

Are Days of the Week Capitalized?

Yes, the days of the week are capitalized, no matter where they appear in a sentence. While this isn’t necessarily true in other languages, in English, we always capitalize the days of the week. 

• “I have tickets for the ballet on Monday.” 
• “Tuesday is a bad day for me. I have three meetings in a row.”
• “I’m so jet-lagged … is today Wednesday or Thursday?”
• “Let’s go out for ice cream sundaes on Sunday!”

Why Do We Capitalize Days of the Week?

We capitalize the days of the week because they are proper nouns. Proper nouns are specific names of people, places, things, or ideas, and they are always capitalized in English to distinguish them from common nouns.

The days of the week – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – fall into the proper noun category because they refer to specific, identifiable periods of time rather than general concepts. This capitalization helps to clearly identify days of the week as unique entities in written communication. 

However, when we talk about less specific days, we do not capitalize them. For example, we don’t capitalize words like “yesterday,” “today,” or “tomorrow,” because they are general concepts and only exist relative to each other. 

Interestingly, the names of the days of the week are largely derived from proper nouns themselves. In English, most of our weekdays are named after Norse gods, while two are named for celestial bodies, and one is named for a Greek mythological figure. 

• Monday: Named for the moon
• Tuesday: Named for Tyr, the Norse god of justice and valor
• Wednesday: Named for Odin, also spelled Wodin, the Norse god of wisdom
• Thursday: Named for Thor, the Norse god of thunder
• Friday: Named for Frigg, the Norse goddess of love
• Saturday: Named after the Greek titan Saturn 
• Sunday: Named after the sun

And even though we don’t usually capitalize “sun” or “moon,” the days of the week remain proper nouns regardless of their origin. So “Sunday” and “Monday” are always capitalized! 

Understanding Days of the Week Capitalization

While capitalization rules can sometimes be confusing, the rules for capitalizing the days of the week are nice and straightforward: Because the days of the week are proper nouns, you always capitalize them. 

Follow this rule, and you’ll be saying “TGIF”: This grammar is fine! For more grammar help, check out our other Grammar Tips resource. Get the hang of grammar to be a better writer, any day of the week!