What do the days of the week mean in English. Days of the week in English (name and origin)

In this article we will find out what they are called days of the week in English. And we learn not only the name, but also the origin of the names of the days of the week in English.

Names of the days of the week English come from the names of Roman gods. In ancient times, the Romans used Saturday as the first day of the week. The ascension of the Sun to the rank of deity and fanatical worship of him moved Sunday from the second to the seventh day of the week.

Let's take a look origin of the days of the week in English.

Sunday - Sunday.

The name of this day of the week comes from the Latin expression dies solis - sunny day (the name of a pagan Roman holiday). He was also called Latin name Dominica - God's day. Romance languages ​​(Spanish, French, Italian), which evolved from Old Latin, retained this root (dom-) in their name of a given day weeks.

Monday - Monday.

The name of this day of the week in English comes from the Anglo-Saxon word monandaeg - "lunar day". The second day of the week was dedicated to the moon goddess.

Tuesday - Tuesday.

This day of the week in English was named after the Norse god Tyr. The Romans named this day in honor of the god of war, Mars.

Wednesday - Wednesday.

The origin of the name of this day of the week dates back to the Roman Empire, original title- dies Mercurii in honor of the god Mercury.

Thursday - Thursday.

The next day of the week is Thursday, and it is named after the Norse god Thor. In Norwegian this day of the week is called Torsdag. The Romans called this day of the week - dies Jovis - "Day of Jupiter", the most important god in their mythology.

Friday - Friday.

The penultimate day of the week in English is Friday. This day of the week was named after the Norwegian queen Frigg. The Romans dedicated this name to the goddess Venus.

Saturday - Saturday

The name of this day of the week glorified God ancient roman mythology Saturn.

The poster “Work week in English with emoticons” will help you quickly and easily remember the English names of the days of the week

Rhyming words are the easiest to remember. So quickly and effortlessly you can remember Sunday ["sʌndeɪ] – Monday ["mʌndeɪ](Sunday - Monday), Tuesday ["tjuːzdɪ] – Thursday ["θɜːzdeɪ](Tuesday - Thursday). To avoid confusion Tuesday – Thursday, just remember that on Thursdays there is thunder and lightning, because as we previously found out, Thursday comes from English word"thunder" - thunder, and this day belonged to the noisy god Thor.

Word "Friday" ["fraɪdeɪ] is associated with the word "free" - free, and many perceive Friday as the beginning free time– free, personal time. Saturday ["sætədeɪ]- Saturn day! All that remains is to remember the word Wednesday ["wenzdeɪ]– Wednesday.

Days of the week: catchy rhymes for kids

Poems about the days of the week in English

Learn abbreviations for days of the week in English

Accepted abbreviations for English days of the week will help you learn and visually remember the names of dates faster. In the culture of the language, two-letter abbreviations for calendars and three-letter abbreviations for short writing in text are common:

Mon, 17 March 2014 (Monday, March 17, 2014),
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 (Tuesday, December 27, 2016)

Learn days of the week with songs and videos

Voiced poems or catchy songs will also help you quickly learn the days of the week.

Note:

If you are interested in the extension vocabulary in English in a minimum period of time, we recommend that you read the article

Now you can find on YouTube a huge number of different variations, fast and slow tempos, British or American pronunciation. Choose a song that you find pleasant and understandable to listen to. We offer you an example of such an educational video for children:

In conclusion:

Finally, I would like to cite the statement of the American Richard Balls, author of the world bestseller “What Color is Your Parachute?” With these two sentences, you will not only easily learn the days of the week with prepositions, but also take one step closer to the English-speaking culture:

Youth is like a long weekend on Friday night. Middle age is like a long weekend on Monday afternoon. (lane Youth is like a long weekend on Friday night. Middle age looks like a long day off on Monday.)

This lesson is devoted to learning the names of the days of the week and their use in English. Questions of their origin and various techniques memorization.

IN English speaking countries, like the vast majority of countries in the world, is used by seven day week:

English week
Monday ["mΛndei]Monday
Tuesday ["tju:zdi]Tuesday
Wednesday ["wenzdei]Wednesday
Thursday ["θə:zdei]Thursday
Friday ["fraidei]Friday
Saturday ["sætədei]Saturday
Sunday ["sΛndei]Sunday

The names of the days in the table are not specially numbered, because in England, the USA, Canada and many other countries, the first day of the week is not Monday, as we used to think, but Sunday. That is, the week begins with a day off and ends with the same day off. Moreover, Monday-Friday are working days (workday ["wə:kdei] or weekday ["wi:kdei]).

Example from the calendar:

One more distinctive feature- this is that the names of the days of the week in English refer to proper names and therefore are always written with capital letters. Even in the case of an abbreviated form. (BTW, the same rule applies for)

Speaking of the abbreviated form, as you can see in the example, in English the first two letters of the word are simply taken. Unlike the Russian language, where the abbreviated names of the days of the week are written as two consonant letters. Less often in English, one first letter of a word is used (only in calendars) or three-letter abbreviations - Mon., Tue., Wed. (as part of a date or in text). Examples:

Examples of use:

  • I like Saturday - I love Saturday
  • we will celebrate Christmas on Thursday - we will celebrate Christmas on Thursday
  • closed on Sundays - closed on Sundays

How to remember English days of the week?

Option one(the most illogical):
Assign numbers to days. Monday - mono - single - first; Tuesday - two - two - second; Friday - five - fifth; Saturday - six - sixth; Sunday - seven - seventh.
Why not logical? Because Monday is not the first day of the week, but the second, Tuesday the third, etc. In addition, it is difficult to find something for Wednesday and Thursday.

Option two(analogies):

Option three:

Sometimes it's easier to remember foreign word, knowing its origins and history. There are several versions of the origin of the names of the days of the week. The most plausible and supported by official science is the version of the formation of the names of days from the names of planets.

Since ancient times, people have observed the movement celestial bodies and measured the passage of time by their position in the sky. So one of the main time units was the lunar month, i.e. the period from one full moon to another is ~ 29 days. This period includes four distinct lunar phases, each lasting approximately 7 days. It is believed that it is from lunar phase and that 7-day week to which we are accustomed occurred.

In those days, people knew 7 planets. And since our ancestors were pagans and each culture had its own pantheon, these planets (which later became the days of the week) received their names from the names of the most revered gods. English culture for a long time under the influence of the Romans, it adopted a considerable part of European traditions and beliefs. Later, Scandinavian motifs were added to them, which came to the British Isles along with the Vikings. As a result, the following names were formed in English:

If you are interested in the history of the origin of these names, then Wikipedia has an interesting article on this subject - http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Week-day_names. Unfortunately, it has not been translated into Russian, but it will be all the more useful to read it.

Know the days of the week in English you should have been since school. But they are so painfully memorable that they become global problem even for people who speak excellent English.

We will provide you with wonderful ways to remember the days of the week and translate them into English through associations and songs. But first, let's get to know them personally!

In the image above you can see the names days of the week in English, their translation, transcription and pronunciation in Russian.

But the most important thing is the reductions. It is abbreviations that are most often used in correspondence between Americans, which incredibly confuse Russians. Therefore, when you learn the days of the week in English, learn them along with abbreviations to show your level of education in the field of this language, as well as your modernity of views.

How to remember the days of the week in English?

Method 1: Learn a nursery rhyme!


This is one of the most famous songs among not only Russians who are trying to learn English, but also among Americans. YES! Incredible, but true. This is the song that children sing in English schools to learn the days of the week, as well as their order.

So, by learning and singing a song about the days of the week in English, you will become even closer not only to the language, but also to its native speakers, immerse yourself in their teaching methods and gain valuable knowledge.

While singing the song, try to create a number of associations. Scientists argue that it is associations that are in the best possible way memorization.

Method 2: Take advantage of our associations!

Agree that the associations are quite vivid. We even conducted a small experiment among our students.

Some students learned the days of the week using the “memorization” method, and some using the method described above. So, the days of the week in English are the simplest simplicity if you learn them with us!

It is the way of associations that helps you remember words faster. Forget cramming, be as innovative as we are, online school AirySchool!

Our tutors have long gotten rid of the stereotyped teaching methods of the USSR. We can find a creative approach to studying any topic in the English language. After all, who, if not us, will show imagination for the benefit of developing the field of education? It’s a joke, of course, because we are not alone on this path. We are only trying to help visitors to our site become familiar with the innovations of studying not only the topics of days of the week in English, but also tenses, articles, idioms and other features of the language.



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