Language

A definitive beginner's guide to the days of the week in English

03 January 2023

Author

Berlitz

Are you wanting to organize a get-together, share plans with friends, communicate ideas and projects for the future confidently, or confirm the details of a job interview accurately? If so, you’ll need to know the days of the week in English.

One of the most significant units we divide our time into is the day, and we refer to our days by name constantly. Without using them, we cannot locate ourselves or our plans in time, and neither can we share plans efficiently with others.

This article will demonstrate how to spell, pronounce, and use the days of the week, understand them in practice, and recognize common but confusing phrases in English associated with time vocabulary.

Why is it useful to know the seven days of the week in English?

We all split our weeks into smaller units of time in order to use them. We fill them with activity, and we want to communicate our activity to other people.

On Tuesday, I’m going to the beach. Do you want to come?
Your appointment is Thursday morning at 10 am.
He’s arriving on Saturday, so can you pick him up?

The names of the days carry the most important information. Consider the following tasks, which need the days of the week for reference:

Inviting someone to a party
Booking a holiday
Explaining what we intend to do in the future
Planning an event
Defending ourselves against an accusation made in the past.

We need to use and understand the days of the week, so we can organize the future, recall the past, conduct business, meet people, and make use of our work and leisure time.

How do you pronounce and spell the days of the week in English?

The pronunciations and spellings of English weekday names are confusing. This is because they originated from other languages, and are not pronounced as they are spelled.

The weekdays in English	IPA pronunciation	Pronunciation for native English speakers
Monday	/mʌn.deɪ/	Mun-day
Tuesday	/ˈtjuːzdeɪ/	Tuez-day
Wednesday	/ˈwenzdeɪ/	Wens-day
Thursday	/ˈθɜː(r)zdeɪ/	Thurz-day
Friday	/ˈfraɪdeɪ/	Fry-day
Saturday	/ˈsætədeɪ/	Sah-der-day
Sunday	/ˈsʌn.deɪ/	Sun-day

Remember that native speakers will often use conversational English, shortening and smoothing weekday names, making them harder to identify:

Tuesday often becomes Tuez
Saturday often becomes Sad-ay
Sunday often becomes Sun

How can I learn to say the days of the week in English?

The best way to learn the days of the week is to practice using them in real-life situations where the outcome of your conversation is intensely significant to you.

For example, explain to a family member which days you need your child picked up after school.
Send a message to a friend telling them when you need to be dropped at the airport next week.
Organize for someone to be home to sign for an Amazon delivery that is arriving next week.
Plan a playdate for your child with the neighbor’s children.

What are some handy English words and expressions I should also know?

The days of the week are surrounded by other words, phrases, and idioms.

Weekend – refers to Saturday and Sunday only, or to the two days that end the week.

Weekday – refers to any of the weekdays, but not the weekend.

Working week – refers to the traditional five days that we go to work: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Next week/last week – refers to some point in the week following or preceding the current one.

In a week – refers to a time seven days into the future (when something will happen).

A day off – means a day spent away from work.

A sick day – means a day spent away from work because of illness.

One day next week – describes a relaxed and calm approach to an arduous situation or task.

Tomorrow – refers to the day after the current day. Thus any day can be ‘tomorrow’ because it always refers to the next day to arrive.

Weeknight – refers to any evening of any weekday, but not the weekend.

Weekly – refers to something that occurs every week.

Daily – refers to something that occurs every day.

FAQs for learning the days of the week in English

The word days is pronounced as /dAYz/ or dayz.

Days of the week are always capitalized in English.

Common abbreviations of the weekdays in English include:

Monday	Mon	M
Tuesday	Tues	Tue
Wednesday	Wed	W
Thursday	Thurs	TH
Friday	Fri	F
Saturday	Sat	S
Sunday	Sun	S

Each of the weekdays in English is pluralized by adding an s to the end of each word:

Mondays are always difficult.
Tuesdays are always fun.
On each of the Wednesdays that the visitors are here, we’ll all bring morning tea.
Please avoid Thursdays, as the car park will be full.
Fridays are the best day of the week.
I don’t like Saturdays at the gym – it’s too crowded.
On Sundays, wear your best clothes.

The names of the weekdays in English have lunar origins:

Monday comes from dies Lunae (in Latin), which means Moon's Day
Tuesday comes from the Nordic God’s day, or Tiw's day
Wednesday, or Wōdnesdæg, means the day of Odin
Thursday is named after the Norse God, Thor, and means Thor's day
Friday, or day of Frigg, is named after the Norse goddess Frigg
Saturday is named after the planet Saturn, and means day of Saturn
Sunday is named after a star (the sun), and means day of the sun

These days – right now or currently
That will be the day – that will never happen
I can’t wait till that day – I'm looking forward to when that happens
You’re going to get it one day – you are asking for trouble
Thank God it’s Friday – I'm glad the week is nearly over
Monday blues – I'm feeling down because it's Monday
Tomorrow never comes – Anything you plan for “tomorrow” will never happen

A YouTube song that will help you learn the days of the week

The Addams Family Days of the Week song is a funny (and familiar) tune that will aid you in learning and pronouncing the days of the week in English.

You can also chant the song with a friend and insert different phrases with each day:

On Sunday I was happy

On Monday I was sad

On Tuesday I was lonely

On Wednesday I was bad

On Thursday I was hungry

On Friday I was mad

On Saturday I was sleepy

On Sunday I was glad

How to use the days of the week in sentences.

There are many funny (and useful) games that practice using days of the week in sentence form.

The catastrophe and the solution game is played with two people using a question and response chant. The game continues to the end of the week, with each person trying to outwit the other or make them laugh.

Catastrophe (person 1)	Solution (person 2)
On Monday, my car broke down.	On Monday, I fixed your car.
On Tuesday, I couldn't get to work.	On Tuesday, I picked you up.
On Wednesday, I lost my phone.	On Wednesday, I found your phone and gave it back.
On Thursday, I forgot my hat.	On Thursday, I brought you another one.
On Friday, I didn't go to my appointment at the hairdresser.	On Friday, I made you another appointment.
On Saturday, I didn't want to go to school.	On Saturday, we don't go to school anyway.
On Sunday, there was nothing for breakfast.	On Sunday, I made you some pancakes.

Today is a good day to learn about weekdays

You won’t regret learning the days of the week in English because they make up a vocabulary group vital for precise expressions of our location in time and our ability to plan. You can learn the seven days of the week through songs, games, and real-life practice.

Most importantly, learning these time-related expressions will be an incredible thing that you can for yourself to further your English language progression – whether for business, cultural or social purposes.