Friends, you have no idea how interesting the topic is about the days of the week on English language! Do you know how Monday is associated with the moon and the Greek goddess Selena? Why is Friday the day of Venus? In this article, we will tell you about how the days of the week in English got their names. And also how they are related to the pantheon. For those who are in the process of learning the language, we have prepared English days weeks with a translation and a few tips on how to remember them. And for you, connoisseurs of English, a reminder with what prepositions and in combination with what words the days of the week are used.
The history of the names of the days of the week in English
The familiar names for us her weeks in English originated from the astronomical names of the plano, which in turn are from the Norse and Roman gods. The question arises: "Why so?"
Even in Babylon, and this, for a moment, in the third millennium BC, scientists associated changes in the time of day, and, accordingly, days, with the phases of the moon. The initial time unit was the lunar month, that is, 29 days (counting from one full moon to the next). During this period, the moon goes through four distinct phases: new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter. Each of them lasts 7 days. And so it happened that our seven-day week came precisely from the lunar phases. And even then, astronomers knew about the existence of seven planets, which they named after revered gods.
We turn to the most interesting: deciphering the names and writing. So…
How to write the days of the week in English and their abbreviations in English
- Monday[‘mʌndei], abbr. Mon. Moon day is the day of the Moon, associated with the goddesses of the night: the Greek Selene and the Roman Moon.
- Tuesday[‘tju:zdei], abbr. Tue. The day is named after Tiw, the Scandinavian god of war and the sky, ruled by the planet Mars.
- Wednesday - Wednesday[‘wenzdei], abbr. Wed. Woden's day - the day of Odin (the Scandinavian god of war and victory). The day is ruled by the planet Mercury.
- Thursday – Thursday[ˈθɜːzdei], abbr. Thu. Named after Thor, the Scandinavian god of thunder and lightning. Jupiter rules the day.
- Friday - Friday[‘fraidei], abbr. Fri. A wonderful and beloved day of the week, which is associated with the planet Venus and the Anglo-Saxon goddess of love, Freyja.
- Saturday[‘sætədei], abbr. sat. This is the day of Saturn (planet) (Saturn) and, accordingly, the ancient Roman god Saturn and the Greek Kronos (Kronos) - the gods of sowing, agriculture and harvest.
- Sunday - Sunday[‘sʌndei], abbr. Sun. Day of the Sun, identified with the gods of the sun: the Greek Helios (Helios) and the Roman Sol (Sol).
By the way, you know that in most of the United States, in Japan and Canada, the first calendar day of the week is Sunday. But in most countries in Europe, in parts of Asia and in some other countries, Monday is considered the first day.
Days of the week in English: use it correctly
Remember: no matter where in the sentence the name of the day of the week is located - at the beginning, in the middle or at the end - it is capitalized. These are, in fact, the proper names of the gods.
For example:
- On Monday my brother plays football.
- I was there last Saturday and saw him.
- We have English classes on Wednesday.
Have you noticed that the preposition is used with the days of the week on?!
But speaking of the past or the future, as well as using words all, any, each, every, next, last, one, this the days of the week in English do not require the delivery of a preposition.
For example: next Friday, this Sunday etc.
And here's a suggestion in used only with parts of the day: in the morning - in the morning, in the afternoon - in the afternoon, in the evening - in the evening, but at night - at night.
How to remember English days of the week?
There are many ways to learn the days of the week in English.
Poem or song about the days of the week
The first is to remember the simplest rhyme. You can sing it too.)
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday too.
Thursday, Friday just for you.
Saturday, Sunday that's the end.
Now let's say those days again!
The second option is fine creative people: writing a poem about the days of the week on your own. Or, in the end, a story about how each day goes by.
On Mondays I go to the gym.
On Tuesdays I go to the market.
On Wednesdays I go to play tennis.
On Thursdays I go to Native English School.
On Fridays I meet with my friends.
On Saturdays I go shopping
On Sundays I clean my apartment.
Also try to memorize established expressions.
Idioms with days of the week in English
Monday feeling- a feeling of unwillingness to work;
From here to next Tuesday- means "very long";
Wednesday girl- an inconspicuous girl, a "gray mouse";
Thursday drunk- “drunk Thursday” (when, without waiting for Friday, you begin to “celebrate” the end of the week on Thursday)
Black Friday- "Black" Friday: 1) the day when financial or other failures occur, 2) the day of incredible sales;
Saturday night special- heavily discounted product - cheap, price on Saturday sale;
A month of Sundays- for a very long time.
Now you know how the days of the week are written in English and how they are used. Repeat, memorize, practice their pronunciation and use more often! Our technique will allow you to remember a lot of useful and interesting information and gain the necessary knowledge. Come to English lessons at Native English School - the best school with native speakers in Kyiv!
How to pronounce the days of the week in English? How are the days of the week written in English? How to quickly remember the days of the week? Mnemonic phrases, after reading which you will remember the names of the English days of the week once and for all.
Pronunciation of the days of the week in English is often difficult. It can be difficult for a Russian person to distinguish Tuesday (tju͟ːzdeɪ) from Thursday (θɜːzdeɪ) by ear. And unfamiliar symbols of international transcription introduce additional confusion. But everything is not as difficult as it seems at first glance.
First, let's look at pronunciation. Take a look at the table below. Everything in this table days of the weekin English with transcription and translation. It has two types of transcription - international and using Russian letters. Below I will describe a couple of tricks for quick memorization days of the week in English.
| In Russian | in English | Transcription |
Pronunciation (in Russian letters) |
|
| 1 | Monday | Monday | ["mʌndeɪ] | [monday] |
| 2 | Tuesday | Tuesday | [tueday] | |
| 3 | Wednesday | Wednesday | ["wenzdeɪ] | [venzday] |
| 4 | Thursday | Thursday | ["θɜːzdeɪ] | [tfezday] |
| 5 | Friday | Friday | ["fraɪdeɪ] | [friday] |
| 6 | Saturday | Saturday | ["sætədeɪ] | [setadey] |
| 7 | Sunday | Sunday | ["sʌndeɪ] | [sunday] |
It is important to know:
How to quickly remember names
days of the week in English?
The name of each day of the week ends with the word day - day. This is due to the origin of these words. The Anglo-Saxons associated every day of the week with some planet, for example, Monday was a lunar day - moon day - monday.
The word day [day, dei] is very easy to remember - it is consonant with the Russian word "days".
And since the endings for all days of the week are the same, then you only need to remember the beginning of each word. Applying mnemonics, we will associate the first part of the word with the number of the day of the week. Monday - one, Tuesday - two, Wednesday - three, etc.
| Day of the week | Association | reinforcements | |
| 1 | Monday | one - mand at | One mand at - one deputy. |
| 2 | Tuesday | two - ace | Two ace but you can't cover it with one trump card. |
| 3 | Wednesday | three - venz spruce | Will you study for three- go to the army to draw venz spruce. |
| 4 | Thursday | four - fez ionomy | Your photo will be taken in the precinct fez ionomy with four sides. |
| 5 | Friday | five - fry ep | fry eru five fingers were shot off. |
| 6 | Saturday | six - set | Tennis player with six the ultimate star on a T-shirt beat everyone in the first set. |
| 7 | Sunday | Sunday - dignity Itharki | San itarians even Sundays do not rest. |
For those who are not yet aware of how mnemonics works, I explain using the example of the word Wednesday (environment). The first part of this word is pronounced like "venz" and is consonant with the Russian word venz spruce. Wednesday is the third day of the week, and in order to remember how Wednesday will be in English, we need to remember the three-monogram association. The mnemonic phrase "you will study at three- go to the army to draw venz spruce".
Our brain remembers vivid images much better than words. Therefore, in order to firmly remember this association from the first time, you need to imagine as vividly as possible in your imagination one of your friends who was an incorrigible C grade student at school, imagine him in military uniform, trimmed "to zero", drawing a monogram on a tank with a brush.
Try to do this, and you will be surprised at how well you remember the "three-monogram" bunch and, along with it, the "Wednesday - Wednesday" bunch.
How to say "on Sundays", "on Saturday", etc.?
Use the preposition on and the adjective every. For example:
I read this book Monday afternoon.
I read this book on a Monday afternoon.
I go to the cinema on Sunday.
I go to the cinema on Sundays.
I go to the cinema every Thursday.
I go to the cinema every Thursday.
Please note that the days of the week in English are always capitalized.
Abbreviated days of the week.
In English, there are two abbreviations for the days of the week. The first option is two-letter, used in calendars. The second - three-letter - when writing dates in the text. Both of these options are shown in the table.
1 Voiced words for days of the week and time of day in English (with transcription)
Note that the names of the days of the week are always capitalized.
2 Prepositions of time used with the designations of the days of the week and the names of the parts of the day
1. Preposition on set with the days of the week: on Sunday / on Monday.
2. Preposition in put with the names of parts of the day, always with a definite article:
in the morning- in the morning;
in the afternoon- in the afternoon;
in the evening- In the evening.
(But: at night- at night.)
3. In combinations of the names of the days of the week with the words all, any, each, every, last, next, one, this the preposition is not used before them: last Monday- last Monday.
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3 Songs about the days of the week in English
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4 Song about the time of day in English
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5 Days of the week in English idioms
Blue Monday- (lit. "sad Monday") heavy Monday, i.e. the first working day after Sunday
Monday feeling- (lit. "Monday feeling") unwillingness to work after Sunday
Bloody Monday- (lit. "Bloody Monday") stud. the first day of vacation, the day of punishment of violators
Black Monday- (lit. "black Monday") 1) school .; unfold the first day after the holidays; 2) church. Black Monday
Handsel Monday- the first Monday of the year, on which it was customary to give small gifts, especially in Scotland (handsel - a gift for happiness; money received from the first sale, considered "lucky")
Fat Monday- (lit. "full Monday") the last Monday before Lent in the Catholic and Anglican churches
Pancake / Shrove Tuesday- Shrovetide Tuesday (the last day of Shrove Tuesday)
Black Wednesday- "black Wednesday", Wednesday September 16, 1992, when there was a sharp collapse in the British pound sterling
Good / Holy / Spy Wednesday- rel. Wednesday in Passion Week, Wednesday before Easter, the day Judas committed the betrayal
Black Thursday- exchanges. "Black Thursday", a precipitous fall in stock prices that began on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, and assumed catastrophic proportions on Black Monday (October 28) and Black Tuesday (October 29) that followed. This stock market crash, also known as the Wall Street crash, was the beginning of the Great Depression.
Maundy Thursday- rel. Maundy Thursday (Holy Week)
Friday girl- Assistant in the office, with a low official position and a variety of duties; a young girl acting as a personal assistant or secretary
Friday man– Friday, faithful servant (named after the servant in D. Defoe's novel "Robinson Crusoe")
Black Friday- "Black Friday", a Friday in which financial or other failures occur
Friday face- lean face, lean mine
Friday fare- fast food
Good Friday- rel. Good Friday
Saturday night special- trade; Amer. Saturday special, heavily discounted item, Saturday sale price; cheap (slang)
Hospital Saturday- (lit. "sick Saturday") the day of collecting donations for the maintenance of hospitals
Egg-Saturday- Saturday before Maslenitsa
a month of Sundays- (lit. "a month from Sundays") whole eternity, a very long time
when two sundays come together- lit. when two Sundays meet, i.e. never
sunday face- hypocritical appearance
Sunday's child- a child born on Sunday; lucky man
sunday driver– a car driver who works only on Sundays; inept, slow driver
sunday man- a person who is in society only on Sundays
sunday painter- an amateur artist; primitive artist
Sunday best / Sunday clothes– the best (new, festive) clothes for special occasions
Sunday closing– shop day off on Sundays
Sunday dinner- Sunday lunch
sunday school- Sunday School
Sunday supplement– Sunday supplement of the newspaper
6 Time of day in English idioms
morning after- razg. hangover, morning after drinking, revelry, etc.; unfold period of sobering up after a rash act
morning news- morning news bulletin
morning star- morning star, Venus
morning coat- business card
morning dress- a) a home suit; b) business card
morning parade- military morning check
in the afternoon of one's life- at the end of life, in the declining years
afternoon tea- a hearty dinner with tea
yester-evening- last night
evening gown- Amer. Evening Dress
evening star- evening Star
evening colors- Amer. sea flag lowering signal
evening gun- sea. signal shot before the evening changing of the guard
night out- a night away from home
to have a night off- have a free evening
small night- the first hours after midnight (1-2 a.m.)
in the dead of the night
- late at night
throughout the night- all night long
night fell- night has come
white night- 1) a night without sleep; 2) white night
overcast night- cloudy night
starlit night- Starlight Night
wedding night- the wedding night
stormy night- stormy night
night hawk = nightjar– night taxi driver; a person who works or just stays awake at night
night chair- chamber pot
night-bird– 1) nocturnal bird; 2) night reveler, night owl; night thief
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7 Games, songs and fairy tales in English about the days of the week (flash)
The origin of the names of the days of the week in English
IN Latin, in the Romance and Germanic languages, the origin of the designations of the days of the week is associated with the names celestial bodies solar system: Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the Sun (in turn, named after the Roman gods). Monday was proclaimed the Day of the Moon, Tuesday the Day of Mars, and so on. In modern Italian, Spanish and French the names of the first five planets have been preserved as the names of the days of the week. In English, only Monday ( Monday), Saturday ( Saturday) and Sunday ( Sunday) have names equivalent to Latin ones. The remaining days in English also bear the names of the planets, but have already received names in honor of the gods of Scandinavian mythology: Tuesday ( Tuesday) is named after Tiu (Tiw), Wednesday ( Wednesday) in honor of Woden, Thursday ( Thursday) - in honor of Thor (Thor), and Friday ( Friday) - in honor of Freya (Freya).
Abbreviated days of the week in English
Monday - Monday / Mon / Mo
Tuesday - Tuesday / Tue / Tu
Wednesday - Wednesday / Wed / We
Thursday - Thursday / Thu / Th
Friday - Friday/Fri/Fri
Saturday - Saturday / Sat / Sa
Sunday - Sunday/Sun/Su
Cards and coloring pages with the days of the week in English
English nursery rhymes about days of the week and time of day
Monday's child is nice and slow,
Tuesday's child is go, go, go,
Wednesday's child is very funny,
Thursday's child is happy and sunny,
Friday's child is like a king,
Saturday's child can dance and sing,
Sunday's child can stand on her head,
And count the ghosts under her bed!
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for his living,
And a child that's born of the
Sabbath day Is fair and wise and good and gay.
(Translated by M. Boroditskaya)
Who was born on Monday
It will be white as a miller.
Who on Tuesday is fair.
And who on Wednesday is unhappy.
Who on Thursday is an eternal vagabond.
Friday - kindhearted.
Who on Saturday - to the point,
Sunday is good for everyone!
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Wash on Monday
wash on Monday,
iron on tuesday,
Bake Wednesday,
brew on thursday,
Churn on Friday,
mend on saturday,
Go to meeting on Sunday.
Good night, sleep tight
good night sleep tight
wake up bright,
In the morning light
To do what's right,
With all your might.
Day in English and Russian
In English there is no special word for the concept expressed by the Russian word day; the corresponding concept can be expressed in English in a descriptive way, as day and night or twenty-four hours.
The same span of twenty-four hours is divided differently in English and Russian. English speakers divide this period into three parts: morning(from 0 to 12 noon), noon(from noon to about 18 hours, that is, until sunset) and evening(from sunset to midnight, after which it comes again morning). As for the words day And night, then they denote a different division of the day, not into three, but into two parts: light ( day) and dark ( night). In addition, the word day used in the same way as abbreviation day and night, that is, in the meaning of the Russian day.
In Russian, the picture is different - the day is divided into four parts, namely: morning (from sunrise to about 10 or 11 hours), afternoon (from 10 or 11 hours to sunset), evening (from sunset to about 10 or 11 hours) and night (between evening and morning, that is, the time when people sleep).
G. H. Andersen's tale about the days of the week in English
The days of the week once wanted to be free to get together and have a party.
The days of the week also wanted to get together and feast at least once.
But each of the seven days was so occupied, the year around, that they had no time to spare.
But each of them was on the account, they were so busy all year round that they could not do it.
They wanted a whole extra day; but then they had that every four years,
They had to wait an extra day, and this is only issued once every four years.
the intercalary day that comes in February for the purpose of keeping order in chronology.
- in February leap year; it is estimated to equalize the scores
Hello! We continue to get acquainted with English everyday vocabulary. In addition to the names of the seasons and months, we often call the days of the week (days of week). This article is dedicated to them: the origin, name, use and methods of memorization. If you want to learn how to speak English, then you, one of the first, need to learn the days of the week in English.
English-speaking countries, like us, use a seven-day week. In most of them, the seven-day period starts on Monday, that is, the first day of the week is Monday. But in the USA, Canada, Israel, the countdown starts on Sunday. However, business days are Monday through Friday. Remember this rule so as not to get confused when studying the American calendar.
Another distinguishing feature is that English days of week are proper names. And this means that they, like months, are always capitalized, regardless of their order in the sentence. Including the abbreviated form of days. days of the week are abbreviated Another uniqueness of the English days of the week is that for abbreviation in the calendar, the first two letters are simply taken from the word - Mo., Tu., We. In Russian, the reduction occurs in two consonant letters - Mon., Tue., Sat. sometimes one or three letters may be used in English - Fri., Thu., Sat. And when writing a date, the day of the week is written first: Sun, 9 Mar 2014.
How to pronounce the days of the week in English?
To learn how to pronounce English days of week correctly, carefully study the table and transcription:
|
Title in English |
Transcription |
Russian pronunciation |
Translation |
|
| MondayMonday | ["mΛndei] | Monday | Monday | Mon |
| Tuesday Tuesday | ["tju:zdi] | Tuesday | Tuesday | Tue |
| WednesdayWednesday | ["wenzdei] | "Wednesday | Wednesday | Wed |
| ThursdayThursday | ["θə:zdei] | Thursday | Thursday | Thu |
| FridayFriday | ["fraidei] | Friday | Friday | Fri |
| SaturdaySaturday | ["sætədei] | Saturday | Saturday | Sat |
| SundaySunday | ["sΛndei] | Sunday | Sunday | Sun |
See also video lesson on pronunciation
Grammar
Before moving on to the grammar rules, let's learn how to call the time of day in English:
- Day - afternoon [ˌɑːftə "nuːn]
- night
- Morning - morning ["mɔːnɪŋ]
- Evening - evening ["iːvnɪŋ]
Times of the day in English Grammar rules regarding the English days of the week and day can be reduced to the following several laws:
- Always capitalized: I like Sunday
- Denoting days, they are used with the preposition "till, by, from, on": Christmas on Saturday, and in denoting the time of day - the preposition "in": in the afternoon
- Used with such prepositions and definitions: this, every other, next, by / before, every, last
- In combination with these words, the preposition is not used: last Wednesday
- The article is usually not used.
Everything is extremely simple, understandable and accessible.
Methods for memorizing English days of the week
In order to remember something, use any, even the most illogical and sometimes crazy ways. The main thing is the result, and how you achieve it is not important. I will offer several options, and you choose the one that you like or come up with your own.
Option number one. Based on a sound analogy:
- Monday - Monkey - monkey or Moon Day - lunar day, and sometimes it can be Monster Day (especially after yesterday)
- Tuesday - True - real or Use Day - a useful day, spend it productively
- Wednesday - Wedding - wedding or When is Day - day of questions
- Thursday - Syoss (Syos) - today is a well-advertised shampoo. Wash Day
- Friday - Freedom - freedom (work week ends) or fraer day
- Saturday - Satan - the devil, on Saturday we get off like a devil, but for someone it's Sad a Day - a sad Saturday
- Sunday - Sun - the sun, the most cheerful and bright English days of week
Days of the week Second option. Use rhyming memory songs:
Monday's child is nice and slow
Tuesday's child is go, go, go Wednesday's child is very funny
Thursday's child is happy and sunny
Friday's child is like a king
Saturday's child can dance and sing
Sunday's child can stand on her head
And count the ghosts under her bed!
Listen to the pronunciation of these words in English, look for something familiar in their sound, draw analogies, come up with memos according to the principle: the funnier the faster. And you will succeed!
And finally option number three. By origin. The names of the days of the week in Romance and Germanic languages originated from the names of celestial bodies, which, in turn, received their names from the Old Norse and Roman gods. Even in ancient times, people found out that the planets move, and began to measure the passage of time according to their movements.
So they took the lunar month as the main time unit, which was approximately 29 days. This period, in turn, included 4 lunar phases, which were about 7 days long. It was from the lunar phase that the seven-day period appeared. Then people knew only 7 planets, and then they decided to name them in honor of the most revered gods. English culture adopted several names from the Romans:
- Monday - Moon
- Saturday - Saturn
- Sunday - Sun
Saturday - Saturn The remaining names were formed later from the Scandinavian mythical gods, the motives of which were brought to the British Isles by the Vikings:
- Tuesday - Tiu (Tiw)
- Wednesday - Woden
- Thursday - Thor
- Friday - Freya
As a result, the seven-day period familiar to the British today appeared:
|
Origin of the days of the week |
||
| Monday | Moon | Moon |
| Tuesday | Tiu | Tiu - son of Odin, god of war |
| Wednesday | Woden | Viking supreme god Odin |
| Thursday | Thor | Thor - son of Odin, god of thunder |
| Friday | Freya | Freya - goddess of fertility |
| Saturday | Saturn | |
| Sunday | Sun | Sun |
Choose the option you like, and learn the days in English using any of the methods, or come up with your own. Watch the video to practice your pronunciation. For kids, educational cartoons can be shown.
