I am going on a vacation on the 15th of December...

[MeyaN]

I am going on a vacation on the 15th of December...
I am going to a vacation on 15th December...
I am going on a vacation on the 15th December...

Which of the above is correct? Please also explain the usage of article here. Will it go wrong if I don't use 'the' in the first sentence; is it must?

Thank you.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I am going on vacation on the 15th of December.

 

[Rover_KE]

Click here and scroll down to the fifth entry to read earlier answers to this question in UsingEnglish.

 

[MeyaN]

Thank you. [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]How to [/FONT]Write a Formal Letter - Writing Tips - UsingEnglish.com This is the fifth entry, which is not related to the query. And I checked other entries too. They mostly consist of how to write date in a letter. I didn't get required information. Please help me.

PS: Please correct if there is any error in the above writing.

 

[Matthew Wai]

http://www.englishlessonsbrighton.co.uk/how-to-write-dates-british-american-english/

 

[MeyaN]

Thank you.

Shouldn't it be "I am going on a vacation on the 15th of December" [article "a" incorporation, as vacation is a countable noun. But Oxford dictionary also didn't use "a". Please explain to me a little bit.]

P.S. Please correct any errors above.

 

[Matthew Wai]

An article is not needed in 'go on holiday / vacation / leave / honeymoon' because the underlined words are used as uncountable nouns.
An article is needed in 'go on a journey / a trip / a voyage / an expedition' because the underlined words are used as countable nouns.

 

[Rover_KE]

Matthew, don't leave spaces round slashes.

 

[Matthew Wai]

The following teacher left spaces round slashes, so I followed suit.
https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/239769-cushioning?p=1254643&viewfull=1#post1254643
Two other teachers, Rover_KE and emsr2d2, liked this post, so I thought it was correct.

 

[Rover_KE]

In that post it wasn't significant enough to point out, but as you are a frequent, knowledgeable poster, the use of whose syntax students will take on board, I thought you needed to know the standard practice.

 

[MeyaN]

Do we have to commit them all to memory by rote learning? It's an arduous task. Isn't there a better way to use them correctly? Please help.

 

[Rover_KE]

Do we have to commit them all to memory by rote learning? Yes.

It's an arduous task. Sorry about that.:-(

Isn't there a better way to use them correctly? No.

`

 

[Matthew Wai]

Do we have to commit them all to memory by rote learning?

Rote learning is difficult, so I often try to figure out a reason.
'Holiday', 'vacation', 'leave' and 'honeymoon' used after 'on' are uncountable because they refer to a period of time.
'Journey', 'trip', 'voyage' and 'expedition' are countable because they refer to travelling.