Prepositions of time

[Tdol]

At Easter = the holiday period

[Teia]

I saw her on Easter.- I saw her on Easter Day.

I saw her at Easter. - I saw her on one of the days of Easter Holiday.

[Mercian]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Me thinks that in terms of dates ..."at" refers to a general point in time, such as "Christmas", "Easter", etc.

Example: See you at Easter. (general point in time)

Compare

Example: See you on Easter Day. (specific day)

Me thinks so too.

Originally Posted by Tdol

On Christmas day
At Christmas = the general period

Yep.

Originally Posted by cner01

depends, if you meant Easter day then it should be "on" . If you meant Easter season, it should be "in"

Yep, and nope. If you meant Easter Day, you would say Easter Day and not just Easter. Same with Christmas.

Originally Posted by teia_petrescu

I saw her on Easter.- I saw her on Easter Day.

Nope. See above.

Originally Posted by Tdol

Use 'at'.

Yep.

[Teia]

Hi

Is the following expression correct in spoken English :

Me thinks so.

I`d say :

I think so, or

So do I.

Thank you.

[Mercian]

Originally Posted by teia_petrescu

Hi

Is the following expression correct in spoken English :

Me thinks so.

I actually said 'me thinks so too'. It's a facetious corruption of an archaic expression, used for humour.

Methinks actually is a real word, meaning 'it seems to me' (from OE 'me thyncthe' - the first 'th' soft, the second hard). This is from the OE verb 'thyncan' which means 'seems', though often confused with 'thencan' - to think. These verbs were merged in ME to make the modern 'think', so now 'methinks' is used as a jokey old-fashioned way of saying 'I think'. So, technically, if we use it in the purist meaning of 'It seems to me', the 'so too' would not be correct, but just messing about and using its modern meaning, it's fine.

Hope that helps!

[RonBee]

My two cents.

First of all, I have discovered that now that I have a different email address that I get to vote for a second time in some of the polls.

Secondly, I must disagree with Cas and Tdol. (Boy is that ever rare!) I thought about what I would say, and since I would say "I'll see you on Easter day" I picked on. As for using in to mean during, I would rather say during. For example: I'll see you during the Easter holidays.

~R

[Teia]

Originally Posted by Mercian

I actually said 'me thinks so too'. It's a facetious corruption of an archaic expression, used for humour.

Methinks actually is a real word, meaning 'it seems to me' (from OE 'me thyncthe' - the first 'th' soft, the second hard). This is from the OE verb 'thyncan' which means 'seems', though often confused with 'thencan' - to think. These verbs were merged in ME to make the modern 'think', so now 'methinks' is used as a jokey old-fashioned way of saying 'I think'. So, technically, if we use it in the purist meaning of 'It seems to me', the 'so too' would not be correct, but just messing about and using its modern meaning, it's fine.

Hope that helps!

Hi Mercian

Thank you very much for clarifying that. It helps a lot, indeed. Long ago, during my university years, I studied OE but not so much as I would have liked to. That course of OE was mostly related to the language which Shakespeare had used in his writings.

All the best.

[Mercian]

No problem! I'm a rank amateur, but I love the development of English all the way from the Anglo-saxon dialects' influence on regional accents and dialects to modern hip-hop influenced language. I'm considering studying Anglo-saxon, but I need to pass my Japanese tests first!

But BTW, I would say that by Shakespeare's time, especially since at least in part his generation's wordsmiths were responsible for the standardization of what became modern English, what he was using was not OE at all.

To me OE would be from when the Anglo-saxon dialects merged to form a single 'English', up until the Great Vowel Shift. The Great Vowel Shift marks the point when pockets of Anglo-saxon pronunciation differences became homogenised and when to a great extent aristocratic Old French became more integrated into what then became Middle English.

Of course these points become somewhat moot because none of them are pinpointable. However, by Shakespeare's time and as a result of Shakespeare's word coinage and some degree of spelling standardization, ME (Middle English) was becoming what I've seen some writers describe as Early Modern English.

(PS - 'methunk' is a joke also! I think the correct past tense would be 'methought'... but I've never heard it used even in jest! )

[Mercian]

Originally Posted by RonBee

First of all, I have discovered that now that I have a different email address that I get to vote for a second time in some of the polls.

Sneaky!

I thought about what I would say, and since I would say "I'll see you on Easter day" I picked on.

So, you would use 'Easter' as an abbreviation of 'Easter Day'? That's very unnatural to me, but whatever tickles your fancy! I suppose one reason why it seems unnatural is that Easter has 'Easter Monday', 'Easter Sunday' ('Easter Day') and even Easter Saturday over the holiday period, so there seems to be quite a lot of room for ambiguity and misunderstandings.

As for using in to mean during, I would rather say during. For example: I'll see you during the Easter holidays.

Again, I prefer 'in' and would use 'during' only in more formal settings or specifically to emphasise the duration.

[lovemylife9987]

In- "I saw her in Easter." "In" is incorrect. "In" refers to where an object is. Easter is a holiday and can not have any object "in" it.
At- "I saw her at Easter." "At" is incorrect. "At" is used in reference to a precise place. Easter is a day not a place.
On- "I saw her on Easter." "On" is the correct word. "On" is commonly used for dates. For example, I was born ON May 17th. Easter is a date so "on" can be used here.