Days of the week in English: What are they and how to use them?

In English, the days of the week are:

1. Sunday
2. Monday
3. Tuesday
4. Wednesday
5. Thursday
6. Friday
7. Saturday

In this article, we’ll talk a bit more about the week in the English-language calendar, where the days of the week come from, and how to talk about the day of the week in conversation. Let’s take a look!

In English-speaking countries, a week is 7 days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

The days of the week in English are named after Old English gods, Roman gods, or celestial bodies. Have a look!

In English, the days of the week are proper nouns in English which means they are always capitalized.

• ✅ My sister graduates on Saturday.
• ❌ My sister graduates on saturday.

However, unlike some proper names like Paris or Instagram, the days of the week can sometimes be plural and will take determiners like articles (the, a/an) or demonstrative adjectives (this, that, ...) more often than most proper names. This is because every month has many days that have the same name.

• This Friday is my birthday.

  with a demonstrative adjective
• I go to the gym on Fridays.

  plural

You’ll see some cases where you’ll need to do this described below.

In this section we’ll talk about how to use the days of the week in three cases:

• To talk about a day of the week in the future

• To talk about a day of the week in the past

• To talk about an event that repeats on the same day

As you’ll see, things can get a little complicated! If you’re ever uncertain, you can give the full date. Have a look at our post on how to say the date in English to learn more about this!

In this post, we’ve given you a brief introduction to the days of the week and how to use them in English! We saw:

• The days of the week are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

• Days of the week are always capitalized in English.

• To talk about a future day, use one of these phrases:

  • on / this + day of the week

  • next / this coming + day of the week

  • not this + day of the week + but next + day of the week

  • (on) the + day of the week + after next

• To talk about a past day, use one of these phrases:

  • on + day of the week

  • this past + day of the week

  • last + day of the week

  • not this + day of the week + but the one before

  • (on) the + day of the week + before last

• To talk about an action that repeats on the same day use:

  • on + plural day of the week

  • every + singular day of the week

  • quantity adjective + singular day of the week

Now, if you feel ready try out our days of the week activities! Or keep on learning with our article on how to say the date in English!