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).