holiday or holidays?

Status
Not open for further replies.

snoopy5376

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2012
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
Malaysia
I found these on Oxford Dictionary

Usage of Holiday:
  1. Holiday is used in both Britain and US to mean a single day without work because of a religious or national festival. Eg: Friday is a holiday in Muslim countries.
  2. Holiday is used in Britain and vacation in the US when talking about the regular period of time taken away from work each year. Eg: Where are you going for your summer holidays?

Malaysian English is according to British English. So if I were to say going somewhere for 1 day, i should say went on holiday. If it is for 3 days, then i should say went on holidays. Is my concept correct?

My sentence is as below:
Last week, Jenny went on holidays in Ipoh (Ipoh is a place in Malaysia. Should it be in Ipoh or to Ipoh?)
 
I found these on Oxford Dictionary


Usage of Holiday:
  1. Holiday is used in both Britain and US to mean a single day without work because of a religious or national festival. Eg: Friday is a holiday in Muslim countries.
  2. Holiday is used in Britain and vacation in the US when talking about the regular period of time taken away from work each year. Eg: Where are you going for your summer holidays?
Malaysian English is according to British English. So if I were to say going somewhere for 1 day, i should say went on holiday. If it is for 3 days, then i should say went on holidays. Is my concept correct?
Well, that's Oxford's concept. Your understanding (or perhaps conception) of the concept is correct.

My sentence is as below:
Last week, Jenny went on holidays in Ipoh (Ipoh is a place in Malaysia. Should it be in Ipoh or to Ipoh?)
Probably "to Ipoh" would be best. Her holiday started before she got to Ipoh, I imagine. We usually include travel as part of a holiday. However, she might say, "I holidayed in Ipoh last year". ("to Ipoh" doesn't work in this sentence).
 
I found these on Oxford Dictionary

Usage of Holiday:
  1. Holiday is used in both Britain and US to mean a single day without work because of a religious or national festival. Eg: Friday is a holiday in Muslim countries.
  2. Holiday is used in Britain and vacation in the US when talking about the regular period of time taken away from work each year. Eg: Where are you going for your summer holidays?

Malaysian English is according to British English. So if I were to say going somewhere for 1 day, i should say went on holiday. If it is for 3 days, then i should say went on holidays. Is my concept correct?

No, I disagree. It's not as simple as just singular for one day, plural for more than one day.

My sentence is as below:
Last week, Jenny went on holidays in Ipoh (Ipoh is a place in Malaysia. Should it be in Ipoh or to Ipoh?)

In BrE, the "summer holidays" mean (to me) the six-week period during July and August when children don't attend school.

What did you do during the summer holidays? = What did you do during those six weeks when you didn't have to go to school?

Where did you go for your summer holiday? = What was the destination for the period of time you spent away from home during the summer?

A summer holiday is one single period of time spent away from home.
If you went away three times over one summer then you would say "I went on three holidays this summer". There would be no way to tell how many days each holiday lasted.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top