A definitive beginner's guide to the days of the week in English
Author
Kerry Hood
Are you wanting to organize a get-together, share plans with friends, communicate ideas and projects for the future confidently, or confirm the details of a job interview accurately? If so, you’ll need to know the days of the week in English.
One of the most significant units we divide our time into is the day, and we refer to our days by name constantly. Without using them, we cannot locate ourselves or our plans in time, and neither can we share plans efficiently with others.
This article will demonstrate how to spell, pronounce, and use the days of the week, understand them in practice, and recognize common but confusing phrases in English associated with time vocabulary.
Why is it useful to know the seven days of the week in English?
We all split our weeks into smaller units of time in order to use them. We fill them with activity, and we want to communicate our activity to other people.
- On Tuesday, I’m going to the beach. Do you want to come?
- Your appointment is Thursday morning at 10 am.
- He’s arriving on Saturday, so can you pick him up?
The names of the days carry the most important information. Consider the following tasks, which need the days of the week for reference:
- Inviting someone to a party
- Booking a holiday
- Explaining what we intend to do in the future
- Planning an event
- Defending ourselves against an accusation made in the past.
We need to use and understand the days of the week, so we can organize the future, recall the past, conduct business, meet people, and make use of our work and leisure time.
How do you pronounce and spell the days of the week in English?
The pronunciations and spellings of English weekday names can seem confusing. This is because they originated from other languages, and are not pronounced as they are spelled.
| The weekdays in English | IPA pronunciation | Pronunciation for native English speakers |
| Monday | /mʌn.deɪ/ | Mun-day |
| Tuesday | /ˈtjuːzdeɪ/ | Tuez-day |
| Wednesday | /ˈwenzdeɪ/ | Wens-day |
| Thursday | /ˈθɜː(r)zdeɪ/ | Thurz-day |
| Friday | /ˈfraɪdeɪ/ | Fry-day |
| Saturday | /ˈsætədeɪ/ | Sah-der-day |
| Sunday | ˈsʌn.deɪ/ | Sun-day |
Remember that native speakers will often use conversational English, shortening and smoothing weekday names, making them harder to identify:
- Tuesday often becomes Tuez
- Saturday often becomes Sad – ay
- Sunday often becomes Sun
How can I learn to say the days of the week in English?
The best way to learn the days of the week is to practice using them in real-life situations where the outcome of your conversation is intensely significant to you.
- For example, explain to a family member which days you need your child picked up after school.
- Send a message to a friend telling them when you need to be dropped at the airport next week.
- Organize for someone to be home to sign for an Amazon delivery that is arriving next week.
- Plan a playdate for your child with the neighbor’s children.
What are some handy English words and expressions I should also know?
The days of the week are surrounded by other words, phrases, and idioms.
| Weekend | – refers to Saturday and Sunday only, or to the two days that end the week. |
| Weekday | – refers to any of the weekdays, but not the weekend. |
| Working week | – refers to the traditional five days that we go to work: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. |
| Next week/ last week | – refers to some point in the week following or preceding the current one. |
| In a week | – refers to a time seven days into the future (when something will happen). |
| A day off | – means a day spent away from work. |
| A sick day | – means a day spent away from work because of illness. |
| One day next week | – describes a relaxed and calm approach to an arduous situation or task. |
| Tomorrow | – refers to the day after the current day. Thus any day can be ‘tomorrow’ because it always refers to the next day to arrive. |
| Weeknight | – refers to any evening of any weekday, but not the weekend. |
| Weekly | – refers to something that occurs every week. |
| Daily | – refers to something that occurs every day. |
