How to correctly pronounce the days of the week in English? How are the days of the week written in English? How to quickly remember the days of the week? Mnemonic phrases, after reading which you will remember the names of the English days of the week once and for all.

Pronouncing the days of the week in English is often difficult. It can be difficult for a Russian person to distinguish Tuesday (tju͟ːzdeɪ) from Thursday ("θɜːzdeɪ") by ear. And unfamiliar symbols of international transcription add additional confusion. But everything is not as complicated as it seems at first glance.

First, let's look at the pronunciation. Take a look at the table below. Everything in this table days of the weekin English with transcription and translation. There are two types of transcription - international and using Russian letters. Below I will describe a couple of techniques for quickly memorizing the days of the week in English.

	In Russian	In English	Transcription	Pronunciation (in Russian letters)
1	Monday	Monday	["mʌndeɪ]	[Monday]
2	Tuesday	Tuesday		[Tuesday]
3	Wednesday	Wednesday	["wenzdeɪ]	[Wednesday]
4	Thursday	Thursday	["θɜːzdeɪ]	[tfezday]
5	Friday	Friday	["fraɪdeɪ]	[Friday]
6	Saturday	Saturday	["sætədeɪ]	[sataday]
7	Sunday	Sunday	["sʌndeɪ]	[Sunday]

It is important to know:

How to quickly remember names

days of the week in English?

The name of each day of the week ends with the word day. This has to do with the origin of these words. The Anglo-Saxons associated each day of the week with a planet, for example, Monday was a lunar day - moon day - monday.

The word day [day, dei] is very easy to remember - it is consonant with the Russian word "days".

And since all days of the week have the same ending, you only need to remember the beginning of each word. Using mnemonics, we connect the first part of the word with the number of the day of the week. Monday - one, Tuesday - two, Wednesday - three, etc.

	Day of the week	Association	Reinforcements
1	Monday	one - mand at	One mand at - one deputy.
2	Tuesday	two - ace	Two ace but you can’t cover it with just one trump card.
3	Wednesday	three - Venz spruce	You will study at three- you will go to the army to draw Venz spruce.
4	Thursday	four - fez ionomia	They'll take your photo at the station fez ionomia with four sides
5	Friday	five - fry er	Fry I believe five fingers were shot off.
6	Saturday	six - sete	Tennis player with six the ultimate star on a T-shirt beat everyone in the first sete.
7	Sunday	Sunday - san itarki	San itarki even Sundays don't rest.

For those who do not yet know how mnemonics work, I will explain using the example of the word Wednesday. The first part of this word is pronounced “venz” and is similar to the Russian word Venz spruce. Wednesday is the third day of the week and in order to remember what Wednesday would be in English, we need to remember the association “three-monogram”. The mnemonic phrase “you will study at three- you will go to the army to draw Venz spruce."

Our brain remembers vivid images much better than words. Therefore, in order to firmly remember this association the first time, you need to imagine as vividly as possible in your imagination one of your friends who was an incorrigible C student at school, imagine him in a military uniform, with a haircut, drawing monograms on a tank with a brush.

Try this, and you will be surprised at how well you remember the “three-monogram” connective and along with it the “Wednesday” connective.

How to say “on Sundays”, “on Saturday”, etc.?

Use the preposition on and the adjective every. For example:

I read this book Monday afternoon.
I read this book on Monday afternoon.

I go to the cinema on Sunday.
I go to the cinema on Sundays.

I go to the cinema every Thursday.
I go to the cinema every Thursday.

Please note that days of the week in English are always capitalized.

Abbreviated writing of days of the week.

In English there are two abbreviations for writing the days of the week. The first option is two-letter, used in calendars. The second is a three-letter one - when writing dates in the text. Both of these options are shown in the table.

Friends, you can’t even imagine how interesting the topic about the days of the week in English is! Do you know how Monday is connected with the moon and the Greek goddess Selene? Why is Friday the day of Venus? In this article we will tell you how the days of the week in English got their names. And also how they are connected to the pantheon. For those who are in the process of learning the language, we have prepared English days of the week with translation and some tips on how to remember them. And for you, English experts, a reminder of what prepositions and in combination with what words the days of the week are used.

History of the names of the days of the week in English

The names we are used to her weeks in English come from the astronomical names of the planesno, which in turn are from the Old Norse and Roman gods. The question arises: “Why is this so?”

Back in Babylon, and this is, for a moment, in the third millennium BC, scientists associated changes in the time of day, and, accordingly, days, with the phases of the moon. The initial time unit was the lunar month, that is, 29 days (counting from one full moon to the next). During this period, the moon goes through four distinct phases: new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter. Each of them lasts 7 days. And so it happened that our seven-day week originated precisely from the lunar phases. And even then, astronomers knew about the existence of seven planets, which they named in honor of the revered gods.

Let's move on to the most interesting part: deciphering the names and writing them. So…

How to write days of the week in English and their abbreviations in English

• Monday – Monday[‘mʌndei], abbr. Mon. Moon day is the day of the moon, associated with the goddesses of night time: the Greek Selene and the Roman Moon.
• Tuesday – Tuesday[‘tju:zdei], abbr. Tue. The day is named after Tiw, the Scandinavian god of war and the sky, ruled by the planet Mars.
• Wednesday – Wednesday[‘wenzdei], abbr. Wed. Woden’s day is the day of Odin (the Scandinavian god of war and victory). The day is ruled by the planet Mercury.
• Thursday – Thursday[ˈθɜːzdei], abbr. Thu. Named after Thor, the Scandinavian god of thunder and lightning. The day is ruled by Jupiter.
• Friday – Friday[‘fraidei], abbr. Fri. A wonderful and beloved day of the week, which is associated with the planet Venus and the Anglo-Saxon goddess of love Freyja.
• Saturday – Saturday[‘sætədei], abbr. Sat. This is the day of Saturn (the planet) and, accordingly, the ancient Roman god Saturn and the Greek Kronos - the gods of sowing, agriculture and harvest.
• Sunday – Sunday[‘sʌndei], abbr. Sun. The Day of the Sun is identified with the sun gods: the Greek Helios and the Roman Sol.

By the way, you know that in most of the United States, Japan and Canada, the first calendar day of the week is Sunday. But in most countries in Europe, in part of Asia and in some other countries, Monday is considered the first day.

Days of the week in English: use correctly

Remember: regardless of which part of the sentence the name of the day of the week is in - at the beginning, in the middle or at the end - it is written with a capital letter. These are, in fact, the proper names of the gods.

For example:

• On Monday my brother plays football.
• I was there last Saturday and saw him.
• We have English classes on Wednesday.

Have you noticed that the preposition is used with the days of the week on?!

But when talking about the past or future, or using words all, any, each, every, next, last, one, this days of the week in English do not require a preposition.

For example: next Friday, this Sunday etc.

Here's an excuse in used only with parts of the day: in the morning - in the morning, in the afternoon - in the afternoon, in the evening - in the evening, but at night - at night.

How to remember English days of the week?

In English, you can learn the days of the week in different ways.

Poem or song about the days of the week

The first is to memorize the simplest poem. You can hum it too)

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday too.

Thursday, Friday just for you.

Saturday, Sunday that's the end.

Now let’s say those days again!

The second option is suitable for creative people: writing a poem about the days of the week yourself. Or, in the end, a story about how each day goes.

On Mondays I go to the gym.

On Tuesdays I go to the market.

On Wednesdays I go to play tennis.

On Thursdays I go to Native English School.

On Fridays I meet with my friends.

On Saturdays I go shopping

On Sundays I clean my apartment.

Also try to remember established expressions.

Idioms with days of the week in English

Monday feeling– a feeling expressing reluctance to work;

From here till next Tuesday– means “very long”;

Wednesday girl– an inconspicuous girl, a “gray mouse”;

Thursday drunk– “drunk Thursday” (when, without waiting for Friday, you start “celebrating” the end of the week on Thursday)

Black Friday– “Black” Friday: 1) a day when financial or other failures occur, 2) a day of incredible sales;

Saturday night special– heavily discounted product – cheap, Saturday sale price;

A month of Sundays– a very long time.

Now you know how the days of the week are written and used in English. Repeat, memorize, practice their pronunciation and use more often! Our methodology will allow you to remember a lot of useful and interesting information and gain the necessary knowledge. Come to English lessons at Native English School - the best school with native speakers in Kyiv!

In order to study a foreign language well and speak it competently, you need to familiarize yourself with some rules of pronunciation and use of words. Let's start with the simplest thing - with the names of the days of the week.

It would seem that what’s special here, these are absolutely ordinary and familiar words? But this is only at first glance. Even the most ordinary and commonly used words can hide interesting historical and linguistic mysteries.

Transcription and translation

The table shows that the pronunciation of the names varies slightly. All names of the days of the week end in , which is usually pronounced as . But in fast speech the ending is a diphthong. is reduced and sounds like [i]. In principle, both options are correct.

If you replace the traditional transcription from Latin characters with Russian ones, you will get the impression that English words can be pronounced almost in Russian. It’s easier to speak this way, and the student will naturally learn to speak English “with a Nizhny Novgorod accent.” And such pronunciation will remain with the student for a long time. If not forever.

It’s easier to get the correct pronunciation right away than to relearn it later.

We should not forget that good pronunciation and competent speech immediately form a respectful attitude towards the interlocutor.

And there is no need to hide behind the idea that others say the same or worse, or that foreigners will understand anyway. No one is obliged to parse your illiterate speech.

Perhaps they will understand you. But they may not understand what you mean. After all, not only grammatical, but also phonetic, and especially phonemic errors can completely distort a statement.

Once the word “ears” was used instead of the word “eyes” - a typical mistake of Russian-speaking students - almost led to a diplomatic scandal. No matter how much the diplomats apologized, saying that it was just a slip of the tongue, the lady head of the delegation remained offended.

Agree that listening to an interlocutor who shamelessly distorts your native speech is difficult, unpleasant and incomprehensible. So respect your foreign interlocutor, speak correctly and clearly.

If you want foreigners to understand you correctly, express yourself correctly.

Why are the days of the week written with a capital letter?

Unlike the Russian language, some nouns in English are written with a capital letter. For example, days of the week, months, etc. Where did this spelling come from? Modern English does not answer the question, so you will have to plunge into history.

The British are world-recognized conservatives. This conservatism is observed in everything, and in language too. Or - especially in language. The rules by which many words are written and pronounced have long sunk into oblivion, but they are written and pronounced in exactly the same way as centuries ago. Although native speakers themselves cannot always explain why this happens in this way.

A little history: the origin of the names

It is believed that the name of the days came from the names of the ancient Roman and Old Norse gods. That's why they are written with a capital letter - names, after all. These names sound approximately the same in German. And they mean almost the same thing. So, given the similarity of the English and German languages ​​(mainly in their older part), we can come to the conclusion that the origin of the names of the days of the week is similar from a single source.

Every day in ancient times was under the auspices of one of the planets of the solar system, or rather the deity that personified them. Let's look at the meaning of these names.

Sunday is the day of the Sun, Monday is the day of the Moon, Tuesday is the day of Mars (Tyr), Wednesday is the day of Mercury (Wotan, Odin), Thursday is the day of Jupiter (Thor), Friday is the day of Venus (Freya), Saturday is the day of Saturn.

Sunday [‘sʌndeɪ] is a day of sunny, bright energy. This day was considered successful for any undertaking. And for holidays too.

Monday [‘mʌndeɪ]– the day dedicated to the Moon is the opposite of the day of the Sun. In Old English it sounded like 'Mōnandæg', later shortened to Monday.

Wednesday [‘wenzdeɪ]

Wednesday [‘wenzdeɪ]- this day, with an inconvenient pronunciation for non-English people, is dedicated to Wotan or, in another pronunciation, Odin, one of the supreme deities of Scandinavian mythology. Hence the name.

In Roman mythology it corresponds to Mercury. A day dedicated to such an outstanding deity is considered strong and successful.

In German everything is simpler, Wednesday is called the middle of the week, as in Russian.

Thursday [‘θɜːzdeɪ]– difficult to write and remember, students usually confuse it with Tuesday. This is a day dedicated to the thunder god Thor or Jupiter in the ancient Roman interpretation. One of the luckiest days of the week

Friday [‘fraɪdeɪ]- This is the day of Freya, Odin's wife. Freya (analogous to Roman Venus) is the patroness of love, family happiness and women's household chores.

Saturday [‘sætədeɪ]- Saturn day. This was a rather gloomy ancient god. And the day was not considered particularly successful.

Why does the week start on Sunday?

There is one interesting nuance in the English language that students do not always notice. The week begins not on Monday, but on Sunday. Why is that? There are many versions of where the countdown of the week from Sunday came from.

Perhaps Monday, the day of the moon, was considered inappropriate for starting new things. From an astrological point of view (and astrology played a very significant role in ancient times), the energy of the moon is passive and slow. These energies are in no way conducive to work.

There is even an expression in English - « Monday feeling." This feeling of reluctance to start a new work week after Sunday. And in the Russian language there is a well-known expression: “Monday is a hard day.”

Proverbs and sayings related to the days of the week

Since initially the days of the week were associated with certain deities, they had certain qualities. Some ancient qualities have been preserved in the language. And others changed their meaning.

For example, Friday was not previously considered a particularly successful day. There is also an old saying:

"Friday for losses."
That is, losses are possible on this day. And it’s better not to start any important things and work less.

For a modern person, Friday is the end of the week, practically the beginning of the weekend.

There is a modern saying:

"Thursday comes, and the week is gone."
Thursday has arrived and the week is almost over. Friday and the weekend are ahead.

"Thursday's child has far to go."
According to the proverb, a child born on Thursday will go far and achieve great things.

Prepositions with days of the week

It must be said right away that only the preposition “on” is used with the word “day”. That's why:

• On birthday - on your birthday;
• on Friday - on Friday;
• on Wednesdays - on Wednesdays;
• next Monday - next Monday;
• this Sunday - this Sunday;
• last Sunday - last Sunday;
• by (for) Wednesday - to Wednesday.
• at weekends - on the weekend.

Each day of the week has its own name and purpose, which is reflected in the language. Studying a language and its history is interesting, educational and useful.

In conclusion, we suggest watching a short video for children to reinforce the days of the week.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Days of the week in English are one of the first important topics that entry-level students study. In addition to the daily need to use the days of the week in English, these names can be found in stories, anecdotes, fairy tales, films, cartoons, poems and songs. The material presented in the article helps to better remember the days of the week in English and practice correct pronunciation.

Days of the week in English:

Sunday[‘sʌndeɪ], [-dɪ] Sunday

Monday[‘mʌndeɪˌ ‘mʌndɪ] Monday

Tuesday[‘t(j)uːzdɪ ], [‘ʧuː-] Tuesday

Wednesday[‘wenzdeɪ] Wednesday

Thursday[‘θɜːzdeɪ] Thursday

Friday[‘fraɪdeɪ], [-dɪ] Friday

Saturday[‘sætədeɪ] [ʹsætədı] Saturday

How to remember the days of the week in English?

1. Get to know the history and origin of the days of the week - the names of the days of the week are derived from the names of the planets.

2. Learn this song:

3. Install the menu in English on your phone. Thus, when taking notes or looking at a calendar, you will involuntarily notice abbreviations of the days of the week or their full names.

4. Write a short story about what you usually do on Monday, Tuesday, etc. Find something special. For example: On Monday I go to the gym.

Important!

1. Sunday is considered the first day of the week in countries such as England, Canada, the USA and others. Wherein Monday - Friday- these are working days ( workday [‘wɜːkdeɪ] weekday; working day or weekday [‘wiːkdeɪ] weekday), Saturday and Sunday - weekend [ˌwiːk’end] days off, weekend.

2. Days of the week in English are used with a preposition on:

on Sunday- on Sunday

on Monday- on Monday

on Tuesday- on Tuesday

on Wednesday- on Wednesday

on Thursday- on Thursday

on Friday- on Friday

on Saturday- on Saturday

at the weekend — on weekends

3. Days of the week in English are always written with a capital letter, since they refer to proper names

Days of the week in English. Short form.

Sunday - Su - Sun

Monday - M, Mo, Mon

Tuesday - Tu, Tue, Tues

Wednesday - We - Wed

Thursday—Th -Thu

Friday - F, Fr, Fri.

Saturday - Sa - Sat

Days of the week in English. Useful phrases.

1. when two Sundays come / meet together - after the rain on Thursday, never (“when two Sundays meet”)

2. Black Monday- first day of classes after the holidays

3. to come every Tuesday- come every Tuesday

4. Holy/Spy Wednesday- Holy Wednesday (during Holy Week)

5. Holy Thursday— Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday (in Holy Week)

6. girl Friday[͵gə:lʹfraıdı] secretary, office worker who helps the boss

she’s his girl Friday - she is his right hand

7. by Saturday- by Saturday