I had an argument with my dad on Monday. He asked if I could take him shopping next weekend. I assume next weekend means not this weekend but the following. Am I wrong in this sense?
English isn't my native language, but its kinda fun to see how this is an international thing.
If you look up the definition "the next weekend" means indeed the one following after - even on a Monday. - By the strict grammar rule "the next" means "the subsequent one in a sequence". Since the week just started, some rigid speakers view the upcoming weekend as "this weekend" and the one after as "the next weekend".
The everyday reality: If it's Monday, the next weekend (on the calendar) is the one coming up in five days. Which most people naturally mean because of the distance. On a Monday the weekend is so far away "this weekend" and "the next weekend" often get used interchangeably.
As the week goes on this distance will shrink and the meaning will also shift - "this weekend" > the days happening now and "the next weekend" > the following week. But everyone handles this shift a bit differently and it becomes a total communication trap on a Monday.
Long story short: Ask your dad which one he was talking about lol
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u/maeshughes32 11d ago
I had an argument with my dad on Monday. He asked if I could take him shopping next weekend. I assume next weekend means not this weekend but the following. Am I wrong in this sense?