Weekend

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RonBee

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Willbut said:
Is there a rule here?

The rule is that you can say one or the other but you can't say both (at least not at the same time).

:wink:
 

Tdol

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'At' is much more common than 'on' in BE. ;-)
 

RonBee

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tdol said:
'At' is much more common than 'on' in BE. ;-)

In AE it's the reverse.

  • "We are separated by a common language."
    --Winston Churchhill

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whl626

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tdol said:
'At' is much more common than 'on' in BE. ;-)

Well, just for your information, some British English teacher told me otherwise, he said the other way round. ' On ' is more acceptable to British.
 

Tdol

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Google UK pages:
on the weekend 13,700
at the weekend 58,300

It seems that 'at' is the more common form in the UK. ;-)
 

Casiopea

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at vs on

Here's something funny:

For BE speakers, the weekend is at the end of the week, and hence the use of the preposition "at".

For NAE speakers, the weekend is the last two days on the calendar, and hence the use of the preposition "on".

:D :D
 

Tdol

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Thanks for that, Casiopea- I had no idea why we used these prepositions. ;-)
 

RonBee

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Re: at vs on

Casiopea said:
Here's something funny:

For BE speakers, the weekend is at the end of the week, and hence the use of the preposition "at".

For NAE speakers, the weekend is the last two days on the calendar, and hence the use of the preposition "on".

:D :D

NAE = Native American English?

:)
 

RonBee

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Re: NAE

Casiopea said:
Yuppers.

Casiopea is Canadian :B-fly:

So you speak CE.

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Casiopea

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Lots of people speak CE in Canada and, come to think of it, in America, Asia, England and the list is endless. :)

All in pure fun, but maybe we should call Canadian English "Can-glish" and American English "US-glish" and Chinese English "China-glish" and British English "UK-glish, and so on. 8) :?: :wink: If not because it'd be fun making the names up, but more so for the sake of not having to deal with all those acronyms :oops:
 

RonBee

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Casiopea said:
Lots of people speak CE in Canada and, come to think of it, in America, Asia, England and the list is endless. :)

All in pure fun, but maybe we should call Canadian English "Can-glish" and American English "US-glish" and Chinese English "China-glish" and British English "UK-glish, and so on. 8) :?: :wink: If not because it'd be fun making the names up, but more so for the sake of not having to deal with all those acronyms :oops:

As you can imagine, I was being facetious. My ear "catches" a British accent, but I really cannot tell if someone is Canadian from the way he or she speaks. I think Canadians speak for the most part a language that is indistinguishable (to Americans at least) from AE. Indeed, I think the Canadians speak a language that for the most part is more similar to AE than American regional dialects are to each other. It might be easier for me to understand someone from Toronto than somebody from the Bronx or Baltimore.

:)
 

Tdol

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Casiopea said:
Lots of people speak CE in Canada and, come to think of it, in America, Asia, England and the list is endless. :)

All in pure fun, but maybe we should call Canadian English "Can-glish" and American English "US-glish" and Chinese English "China-glish" and British English "UK-glish, and so on. 8) :?: :wink: If not because it'd be fun making the names up, but more so for the sake of not having to deal with all those acronyms :oops:

Not to mention Japlish, as seen on www.engrish.com. ;-)
 

RonBee

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I had an experience for using that. My first English test had a question :"fill in the bank with one suitable prep", and I fill the prep"on" before " the weekend", and the result was that I lost the grade of that sentence, so I have never used "on the weekend " since that
 

Tdol

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That's unfair- I would mark 'on the weekend' correct, as any American form should be accepted in British English. That's either snobbery or ignorance. 'On the weekend' is also used in Aistralia, etc. ;-)
 
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