Next Saturday

Imagine if today is Friday October 6th, 2023.

  • This Sunday I’m going to a football match.
  • Next Sunday is my birthday.
  • Next Saturday I’m going shopping with my sister.

Are “this Sunday” and “next Sunday” the same day?

Is “next Saturday” tomorrow, or in eight days?

The problem is that English is not always clear in this situation.

Look at these two sentences:

  • On Saturday I went to the cinema.
  • On Saturday I’m going to the cinema.

It’s a little strange, but it’s not too difficult because the verb tense tells us if it’s the most recent Saturday, or if it’s the coming Saturday, in the future.

So the problem is when we are talking about the near future. And here’s what we do:

  • We usually say “tomorrow”, or “the day after tomorrow”, because using “next ____” isn’t clear when talking about Saturday and Sunday.
  • We use “next” with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (if today is Friday, remember).

Imagine that today is Friday October 6th. Here is a calendar of this time, followed by Paul's plans on each date.

 

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

29

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

 

  • 30th: play in Beckett Theatre
  • 7th: gym in the morning.
  • 8th: visit my parents.
  • 9th: lunch with Emily.
  • 10th: nothing special planned
  • 11th: band practice
  • 12th: drinks with Tom and Chris
  • 13th: band practice, then go for dinner with Julie.
  • 14th: fly to Rome, very early!
  • 15th: visit Rome, fly home

 

Here is Paul talking about his schedule. Choose the correct options.

 

"I'm so busy these days! I've got band practice Wednesday and Friday, and Friday I'm having dinner with Julie afterwards. I can't stay very late, though, because tomorrow week, that's to say Saturday, I have an early flight to visit Rome for the weekend. I'm going to the gym, and Sunday I'm visiting my parents. I haven't seen them for a while because Saturday I went to the theatre, and I was tired the next day. Monday I'm having lunch with Emily, who I haven't seen for ages. At the moment I don't have plans for Tuesday, but something could come up!"