In this lesson, you will learn about the names of the days of the week and their use in English language... The issues of their origin and various methods of memorization will also be considered.

In English-speaking countries, like the vast majority of countries in the world, a seven-day week is used:

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, since in England, 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 starts with a weekend and ends with the same weekend. In this case, Monday-Friday are working days (workday ["wə: kdei] or weekday [" wi: kdei]).

Example from calendar:

Another one 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 a capital letter. Even in the case of an abbreviated form. (BTW, the same rule applies to)

Speaking of the abbreviated form, as you can see in the example, in English, just the first two letters of a word are taken. In contrast to the Russian language, where the abbreviated names of the days of the week are written in the form of two consonants. Less commonly, English uses one first letter of a word (only in calendars) or three-letter abbreviations - Mon., Tue., Wed. (as part of the date or in the text). Examples:

Usage examples:

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

How to remember the English days of the week?

Option one(most not logical):
Assign numerals to days. Monday - mono - single - first; Tuesday - two - two - the second; Friday - five - fifth; Saturday - six - sixth; Sunday - seven - the seventh.
Why not logical? Because Monday is not the first day of the week, but the second, Tuesday is the third, etc. Besides, 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 the days from the names of the planets.

Since ancient times, people have watched 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 ~ 29 days. This period includes four distinct lunar phases, each lasting approximately 7 days. It is believed that it was from the lunar phase that that 7-day week to which we are accustomed took place.

In those days, 7 planets were known to people. And since our ancestors were pagans and each of the cultures had its own pantheon, then these planets (which later became the days of the week) received their names from the names of the most revered gods. The English culture, which had been under the influence of the Romans for a long time, adopted a considerable part of European traditions and beliefs. Later, Scandinavian motives were added to them, which came to the British Isles 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 the more useful it will be to read it.

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

The names of the days of the week in English come from the names of the 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 a deity and fanatical worship before him moved Sunday from the second to the seventh day of the week.

let's consider the 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 - a sunny day (the name of a pagan Roman holiday). It was also called by the Latin name Dominica - the day of God. Romance languages ​​(Spanish, French, Italian), which descended from Old Latin, retain this root (dom-) in the name of this 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 also named this day in honor of the god of war Mars (Mars).

Wednesday - Wednesday.

The origin of the name of this day of the week refers to the Roman Empire, the original name is dies Mercurii in honor of the god Mercury (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 (Venus).

Saturday - Saturday

The name of this day of the week glorified the god of ancient Roman mythology, Saturn.

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

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

First, let's figure out the pronunciation. Take a look at the table below. In this table, everything days of the weekin English with transcription and translation... It has two types of transcription - international and using Russian letters. Below I will describe a couple of tricks for quick memorization days of the week in English.

	In Russian	In english	Transcription	Pronunciation (in Russian letters)
1	Monday	Monday	["mʌndeɪ]	[mandai]
2	Tuesday	Tuesday		[tyuzdei]
3	Wednesday	Wednesday	["wenzdeɪ]	[wensday]
4	Thursday	Thursday	["θɜːzdeɪ]	[tfyozdei]
5	Friday	Friday	["fraɪdeɪ]	[Friday]
6	Saturday	Saturday	["sætədeɪ]	[seteday]
7	Sunday	Sunday	["sʌndeɪ]	[sunday]

It's 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 - day. This is due to the origin of these words. The Anglo-Saxons associated every day of the week with some 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 the endings of all days of the week are the same, then you only need to remember the beginning of each word. Applying mnemonics, we associate the first part of the word with the number of the day of the week. Monday one, Tuesday two, Wednesday three, etc.

	Day of week	Association	Reinforcements
1	Monday	one - mand at	One mand at - one deputy.
2	Tuesday	two - ace	Two ace but one trump card is not enough.
3	Wednesday	three - wenz spruce	Will you study at three- go to the army to draw wenz spruce.
4	Thursday	four - fez ionomy	At the station they will take a picture of your fez ionomy with four parties.
5	Friday	five - fry ep	Fry shit five fingers shot off.
6	Saturday	six - sete	Tennis player with six the ultimate star on the T-shirt beat everyone in the first sete.
7	Sunday	Sunday - dignity itarki	San and even on sundays don't rest.

For those who are not yet aware of how mnemonics works, I will explain using the word Wednesday as an example. The first part of this word is pronounced like "wenz" and is consonant with the Russian word wenz spruce. Wednesday is the third day of the week and in order to remember what Wednesday will be like in English, we need to remember the "tri-monogram" association. The mnemonic phrase "you will study on three- go to the army to draw wenz spruce ".

Our brains remember vivid images much better than words. Therefore, in order to firmly remember this association from the first time, you need to imagine as vividly in your imagination one of your acquaintances who was an incorrigible C grade at school, imagine him in a military uniform, trimmed "to zero", drawing a monogram on a tank with a brush.

Try this and you will be surprised at how well you remember the three-monogram combination and with it the Wednesday-Wednesday combination.

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

First of all, it is worth understanding why a week is called a "week". It turns out that earlier, long before the adoption of Christianity, a week was called Sunday. And it was the first day of the week. But later Sunday was considered the last day of the week. Why? Let's figure it out.

The word "week" happened from the combination "do not", that is, rest. It is wiser to have a rest after work (remember the Russian proverb “I did the job - walk boldly!”), So the most “lazy” day was the last one. Nowadays, the beginning of the week from Monday is regulated by the International Organization for Standardization.

But first, it was the "week" (the day of the week, which later became "Sunday") that began the seven-day. Apparently, before the week (in the modern sense) called not "week", but "week"(in Bulgarian, by the way, even now "week" is called "week"). And then they called the week "weeks" (seven days from a week to a week - from Sunday to Sunday).

ORIGIN OF NAMES OF DAYS OF THE WEEK

Why is Monday called Monday? The word "Monday" is derived from "after the week". Monday was the first day after Sunday, which in ancient times was called "week". The root of the word is week. It is formed by the suffix method (suffix –nik-).

Why is Tuesday called Tuesday? Tuesday - from the word "second". The second day after the "week" (the current Sunday). Note - not the second day of the week, but the second after the week. The root is second, the suffix is ​​nickname.

Why is the environment called environment? This word also came from the Old Church Slavonic (like "week", "Monday", "Tuesday"). It has common root with the words "heart", "middle". Note: Wednesday is the middle of the week only if the week starts on Sunday. This day stands between the first three days of the week and the last. Nowadays, when the week starts on Monday, "Wednesday" does not live up to its name.

Why was Wednesday not called "treasury" (by analogy with "Tuesday") or "arbiter" (although, according to some sources, it was the "arbiter" that was called the environment in antiquity)? And remember the names of the fingers! The one in the middle is called the middle finger, not the third or any other. In ancient times, the middle was given special meaning (it is not for nothing that "middle" and "heart" are cognate words).

Interestingly, in some other languages, the day of the week "Wednesday" is literally translated as "middle" (for example, in German Mittwoch).

Some researchers argue that Wednesday is not the middle of a seven-day week, but a five-day one. Allegedly, at first a week consisted of five days, and then, due to the influence christian church, it added two extra days.

Why is Thursday called Thursday? Like "Tuesday", the word "Thursday" is formed in accordance with the ordinal number of the day of the week after Sunday. "Thursday" is formed from the common Slavic word "chetvrtk", which, in turn, was formed in a suffix way from the word "fourth". Most likely, over time, the sound "t" dropped out - the "four" remained, and gradually the sound "k" "voiced", since it follows the sonorous (always voiced) sound "r". As a result, we have a day of the week called Thursday.

Why is Friday called Friday? Friday is a little more complicated. Of course, the word is formed from the number "five" (the fifth day after the start of the week). But why not "Friday" or "nickel"? The fact is that even before the adoption of Christianity, the Slavic goddess Friday (related to the fifth day) was revered. Therefore, the fifth day was named in honor of the goddess Friday, and not Friday.

Why is Saturday called Saturday? The word came from the Old Church Slavonic language. It was once borrowed from the Greek language (from the Greek Sabbaton). And it got into the Greek language from the Hebrew language (from sabbath - "the seventh day when you need to refrain from work"). Shabbat is the pronounced Hebrew word literally meaning "rest", "rest."

By the way, the word "sabbath" has the same roots, so that "sabbath" and "sabbath" are related words. It is also interesting that not only in Russian, the name of this day of the week comes from the Hebrew "Shabbat": in Spanish, and in Italian, and in French the word for Saturday is of the same origin. However, in many other languages ​​as well. The explanation is simple - the spread of the Christian religion influenced the dictionaries of many languages.

Why is Sunday called Sunday? Sunday - this word, as already mentioned, has replaced the word "week". It arose, of course, after the adoption of Christianity in Russia. The word is derived from "vskresiti". Formed by the suffix method (suffix -enj-). This is the day that Jesus was resurrected according to the scriptures.

• DAY, of the day, m.

  1. Part of the day from sunrise to sunset, from morning to evening. Sunny day. □ The day imperceptibly leaned towards evening, and now the golden-light sunset sky in the west was shining. Bunin, Distant. An inconspicuous, but troublesome and vain life flows in the taiga on these fine days and starry, echoing nights. Markov, Strogoffs.

  2. Day, period of time 24 hours. There are 365 days in a year.□ Their acquaintance happened a few days ago. A. N. Tolstoy, Gloomy morning. For the past four days, he has eaten almost nothing. V. Kozhevnikov, March-April. || A period of time (within a calendar day), constituting a seventh of a week. First day of the week. Any day of the week. Saturday afternoon. Sunday afternoon.|| A time span (within a calendar day) set aside for smth., Busy with smth. Holiday. Sanitary day. □ The hospital had two visiting days: Thursday and Sunday. Avdeev, A good friend.

  3. Calendar date, day of the month. [Tikhmenev] ordered the fleet to prepare to leave for Sevastopol and set the day - June 17th. Paustovsky, Black Sea. || Calendar date, day of the month associated with whatsoever. event, with the celebration of it. Day of the press. Day of missile forces and artillery. International Women's Day. □ Natasha celebrated her birthday - she was twenty years old. Ehrenburg, The Tempest.

  4. pl. h. (days, days) usually what. Time, time, period. Days of youth.□ But the days of the past jokes, From Romulus to the present day, He kept in his memory. Pushkin, Eugene Onegin. In days Patriotic War the talent of this outstanding Soviet commander was fully developed. B. Polevoy, Marshal soldier. || Life. You still have the right to live, Fast I go to the end of days. N. Nekrasov, Zina. They said that some grief struck him and he took a vow of silence until the end of his days. M. Gorky, The Life of Klim Samgin.

  Yesterday; look for yesterday cm. yesterday.
  Tomorrow cm. tomorrow.
  Working day- a certain amount of time allotted for work, service.
  A few days- very little time; not for long.
  Black day- hard, difficult time. Save money for a rainy day.
  Day open doors cm. a door .
  The third day cm. third .
  Spite of the day; one day cm. malice.
  Agenda ( or order) of the day- issues to be discussed at the meeting.
  Days whose numbered- there is very little left to live. [The partisan] was wounded in the brain right through. His days were numbered. Vershigora, People with a clear conscience.
  In these days cm. this.
  (And) day and night- all the time, without stopping. All to think, think about one And day and night until we meet again. Pushkin, Eugene Onegin.
  Day to day- exactly on time.
  Day after day- monotonous, without any. changes, events.
  From day to day- daily, incessantly. Do the same thing every day.
  Day by day- every day, gradually. I wish one thing again, Stronger day by day, I wish that your love Survived me. Shchipachev, Believe me - you are all in my destiny.
  From day to day- 1) from one day to another. Put off smth. From day to day; 2) one of the next days, in the near future. Wait for smb. from day to day. □ The search party was decided, and from day to day we had to go to the North. Kaverin, Two captains.
  For the day (simple.) - during the day. She played tennis for hours and swam twice a day. A. N. Tolstoy, Sisters.