Prepositions in English are often a little confusing. When you’re talking about the days of the week, should you say something is “on weekdays” or “in weekdays”? Are both allowed? Or is one of them incorrect? This article will answer all of these preposition-based questions and more.
Is It “On Weekdays” or “In Weekdays”?
The correct answer is “on weekdays”. There are several different prepositions that one uses for time, depending on the unit of time itself. When you’re talking about a precise day or date, such as a given weekday, then you use the “on” preposition.
“On” and “in” are prepositions that are commonly confused. However, when it comes to discussing time, “on” is used for specific dates, while “in” is rarely used, only for large dates.
What Does “On Weekdays” Mean?
“On weekdays” is the phrase that you should use when you’re making a reference to something happening in the days of the week that span from Monday to Friday. If something happens “on weekdays” then it doesn’t happen on weekends, meaning Saturday or Sunday.
“On weekdays” is a very useful phrase to use when it comes to creating a distinction between the days of the week and the days of the weekend.
Using the phrase “on weekdays” to indicate something happening signals that it doesn’t happen “on weekends”.
Here are a few example sentences that will teach you how to use “on weekdays” in a sentence:
- On weekdays I go to work either at our main office or at the new branch a block over.
- I am available on weekdays because I’m out doing deliveries for my job.
- I’m not accustomed to drinking on weekdays so it’s something I try to avoid doing.
- On weekdays I am working from 9 to 5, and then I’m at home, resting for the next day.
- I don’t think regularly going out on weekdays is a smart thing to do given my lifestyle.
- On weekdays I am usually at least a little bit tired because of how busy I am at work.
- You should check out that doctor’s office, they’re only available on weekdays but they’re worth it.
Is It “On Weekdays” or “On The Weekdays”?
The generally correct answer is “on weekdays”. “On the weekdays” on its own is generally thought of to be awkward and doesn’t get a lot of use, but it can be sometimes used when it’s followed by “when” and the sentence specifies something about the weekdays in question.
When you use “on the weekdays when”, you’re specifying something about that specific weekday, and justifying the use of “the” before the word “weekday”.
In most regular situations, however, you should just use “on weekdays”, as it’s always appropriate and correct.
Here are a few examples that showcase both of these forms getting properly used:
- On weekdays I’m usually so busy that I’ve fallen behind on all of the TV I’m watching.
- On the weekdays when I wake up too early, I try to cook myself a proper, hearty breakfast.
- On weekdays I’m busy from seven to eleven, but after eleven I am free for the rest of the day.
- On the weekdays when he calls me, we usually set up a meeting for a couple of hours later.
What Does “During Weekdays” Mean?
“During weekdays” is a phrase that is used to denote a weekday as not a mere day where something is happening, but as a range of time in which an action or several actions are occurring. When something happens “during weekdays” it’s probably an action that takes time.
The difference between “on” and “during” is that “on” is used to say that something is happening “on” a specific date, but it could happen at any point in that date.
“During”, on the other hand, is used to signal that a specific action is happening throughout that entire date or range of time.
They’re not interchangeable, as something that takes place “during a weekday” takes place “on a weekday”, but something that takes place “on a weekday” doesn’t necessarily take place “during a weekday”.
Here are a few example sentences that’ll showcase how to use this expression:
- During weekdays I am working all day, only stopping for the day when the moon hits the sky.
- During weekdays I am receiving calls, but during weekends I will not take any work calls.
- During weekdays he’s always at his office near City Hall, so you can look for him there.
- During weekdays she’s working at the law firm on the third floor, if you need to contact her.
Is “At Weekdays” Correct?
“At weekdays” is not correct. When you want to refer to weekdays, the correct preposition to use is “on”. The preposition “at” should instead be used when referring to smaller, precise units of time, such as a specific hour, rather than a date.
A situation in which you’d use “at” is, for example, if you were talking about what time something will happen at. You would say “It will happen at 5 PM”, and “at” is properly used.
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