time expressions

[Verona_82]

Hello,

I'm having some problems with time expressions. My book states we say "on Monday" when we talk about both a specific Moday and Mondays in general. We say 'on Mondays" when we talk about Modays in general, which is obvious. I'm wondering if this is the case with other time expressions. For example:

in the evening - can we use it to talk about evenings in general?
He ususally reads the newspaper in the evening.

on Monday evening - can we use it to talk about every evening on Mondays?
He always goes to the gym on Monday evening

at the weekend -can we use it to talk about weekends in general?
I always hang out with my friends at the weekend.

I guess it doesn't work for "on workdays', right?

Thank you in advance.

 

[opa6x57]

Hello,

I'm having some problems with time expressions. My book states we say "on Monday" when we talk about both a specific Moday and Mondays in general. We say 'on Mondays" when we talk about Modays in general, which is obvious. I'm wondering if this is the case with other time expressions. For example:

in the evening - can we use it to talk about evenings in general?
He ususally reads the newspaper in the evening. :tick:

on Monday evening - can we use it to talk about every evening on Mondays?
He always goes to the gym on Monday evening :tick:

at the weekend -can we use it to talk about weekends in general?
I always hang out with my friends at the weekend. :cross: (I would say, I always hang out with my friends ON the weekends.)

I guess it doesn't work for "on workdays', right?
"I stop by the coffee shop on workdays." (I usually don't stop by the coffee shop on weekends.)
Thank you in advance.

You're welcome...



=============================
Not a teacher, 53-year-old American.
=============================
… and that’s my opinion

 

[apex2000]

At the weekend.
On the weekend.
Both are acceptable.
On workdays is also right.

 

[5jj]

at the weekend -can we use it to talk about weekends in general?
I always hang out with my friends at the weekend. :cross: (I would say, I always hang out with my friends ON the weekends.)

I agree with all of opa's ticks and crosses except the one above. In BrE, the normal expression is 'at the weekend', so Verona's sentence is acceptable to me.

 

[birdeen's call]

Is the following good? It doesn't sound right to me but it seems grammatically correct.

He usually reads the newspaper evenings.

What it wrong with this sentence if anything?

 

[5jj]

What is wrong with this sentence if anything?

Thirty years ago I would have regarded it as a horrible Americanism. Today I probably say it myself, though I tend to prefer the 'evenings' at the start of the sentence.
The Oxford ALD accepts it as an adverb "(especially AmE)".
So, there's nothing wrong with it, in my opinion.

 

[Verona_82]

I'd like to draw a conclusion
When talking about periods of time in general, we can use either of these phrases:

on Monday = on Mondays
in the evening = in the evenings = evenings
on Monday evening = on Monday evenings
at the weekend = on the weekend = at the weekends

Can I say 'at weekends" omitting 'the' ?

on workdays

Is everything correct?
Thank you.

 

[5jj]

I'd like to draw a conclusion
When talking about periods of time in general, we can use either of these phrases:

on Monday = on Mondays
in the evening = in the evenings = evenings
on Monday evening = on Monday evenings
at the weekend = on the weekend = at the weekends

Can I say 'at weekends" omitting 'the' ? Yes ........on workdays Yes

All correct.
I have underlined my personal preferences, but that is all they are.

 

[Verona_82]

I was thinking about time expressions today as I had to combine some of them. However, it wasn't easy.

(1a) The roads are ususally congested on weekday evenings
(1b) The roads are usually congested on weekdays in the evening
(2a) The roads are usually congested at (the) weekends in the evening
(2b) The roads are usually congested in the evenings at (the) weekends

How would a native speaker express this idea?

 

[apex2000]

I was thinking about time expressions today as I had to combine some of them. However, it wasn't easy.

(1a) The roads are ususally congested on weekday evenings
(1b) The roads are usually congested on weekdays in the evening
(2a) The roads are usually congested at (the) weekends in the evening
(2b) The roads are usually congested in the evenings at (the) weekends

How would a native speaker express this idea?

All four are in common use. We might also say that the roads are frequently congested, especially in/during the evenings.

 

[Verona_82]

Oh really? Thank you.
So I've got the freedom of choice.

 

[apex2000]

Yes.