Talking About the Weekend in English

Weekend, Days Off or Holiday?

It's the weekend tomorrow – Saturday and Sunday. Some Russian/Ukrainian speaking students often refer to this as a holiday. It shouldn’t be called a holiday in English, just the weekend.

The weekend always includes Saturday and Sunday and it always refers to both days. When we are away from work for a longer time we use the word holiday. This usually means we have at least a week or two away from work and our normal job.

If we have one day free or two, we simply call this a day off or days off.

When there is a national holiday, like Good Friday, Easter or Independence Day – a day when businesses usually close and people don't have to work – we call these days bank holidays in English. In the UK they usually happen on a Monday. In England we have about 8 bank holidays a year. How many are there in your country?

Weekend Conversation

Have a look at this short dialogue:

Joe: Oh, no, I've got work tomorrow!

Ben: Really? You do know it is a bank holiday tomorrow, right?

Joe: I thought it was next week.

Ben: No, it's tomorrow.

Joe: GREAT! No work tomorrow. Let's have another beer.

Ben: Let me get them. I have a day off on Tuesday.

Joe: Lucky you.

Ben: Yeah, and next week I'm on holiday for a week.

What Are You Up To This Weekend?

What are your plans for the weekend? Do you know? Don’t you know? Are you unsure? Let’s look at some expressions you can use to talk about your weekend (and other future plans) and how likely they are.

Instead of saying “What are you doing for the weekend?” you can use the more natural question:

“What are you up to this weekend?”

This means exactly the same as “What are you doing?”, but sounds more conversational. If the weekend has just finished, you can ask:

“What did you get up to at the weekend?”

Talking About Weekend Plans

Here are some example answers with a rough idea of how likely they are:

• I'm going to the cinema. – about 100%
• I’ll probably go to Exeter. – about 90%
• I might go shopping. – about 60%
• I doubt I'll stay in. – about 45% (you don’t think this will happen)
• It's unlikely I'll have to work. – about 30%
• I'm not going to cook. – 0%
• I definitely won't go to the gym. – 0%

These percentages are just a rough guide, but they help you feel the difference between going to, probably, might, doubt, unlikely and definitely won't.

So… what are you up to this weekend?