On/at the weekend – English Grammar – English – The Free Dictionary Language Forums
1. On the weekend (AmE)2. At the weekend (BrE)3. On weekends (AmE)4. At weekends (BrE)5. On the weekends6. At the weekendsHello,I have two questions:My first question is this => What do you think of #5 and #6? Are #5 and #6 also correct?My second question is this => Once I showed the following two sentences to a native English speaker. He told me that he would choose the first sentence. But what’s wrong with the second sentence? Both of these sentences make good sense to me. What do you think of these two sentences? Is there anything wrong with the second sentence?- At the weekend I visit my grandpa.- At weekends I visit my grandpa.Thank you.
As for your first question, both 5 and 6 are acceptable and “correct”. As for your second question, just because a native speaker says he prefers one sentence over the other does not mean there is anything “wrong” with the other. It’s a matter of choice or habit. I would probably say (as a native AmE speaker) “On weekends I visit my grandpa”, meaning that it’s my habit on weekends to visit Granddad. On the other hand, if someone were to ask me on Monday, “When will you see your grandpa next?”, I would probably answer, “[I’ll see him] At the weekend”, meaning Saturday or Sunday.
I agree – it’s defintely correct for #1 and #2. We in Britain usually say “At the weekend”.orBoth these would sound perfectly natural.However “At weekends” doesn’tright – because it’s not used very often, if at all, like that. It’s just not a common phrase in conversational English, especiallythe action verb., though, and is used in timetables and written statements.I would expect something like this:I visit my granddad every weekend.I visit my granddad most/some weekends.I visit my granddad weekends.Weekends, I visit my granddad.I visit my granddad at weekends.I don’t know why, but that’s how it is used. You can see on this graph , “at weekends” (late in the sentence) is used about fifteen times as often as “At weekends” (start of a sentence).
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sb70012 wrote:
2. At the weekend (BrE)
3. On weekends (AmE)
4. At weekends (BrE)
5. On the weekends 
6. At the weekends
Hello,
I have two questions:
My first question is this => What do you think of #5 and #6? Are #5 and #6 also correct?
My second question is this => Once I showed the following two sentences to a native English speaker. He told me that he would choose the first sentence. But what’s wrong with the second sentence? Both of these sentences make good sense to me. What do you think of these two sentences? Is there anything wrong with the second sentence?
– At the weekend I visit my grandpa.
– At weekends I visit my grandpa.
Thank you.
1. On the weekend (AmE)2. At the weekend (BrE)3. On weekends (AmE)4. At weekends (BrE)5. On the weekends6. At the weekendsHello,I have two questions:My first question is this => What do you think of #5 and #6? Are #5 and #6 also correct?My second question is this => Once I showed the following two sentences to a native English speaker. He told me that he would choose the first sentence. But what’s wrong with the second sentence? Both of these sentences make good sense to me. What do you think of these two sentences? Is there anything wrong with the second sentence?- At the weekend I visit my grandpa.- At weekends I visit my grandpa.Thank you.
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In British English, the preposition “at” is used with weekend(s). The phrases are “at the weekend” and “at weekends”. American English is liberal and accepts the preposition “on” too. The phrases are “on the weekend” and “on weekends”.
When one says “at/on the weekend”, the implied sense is that you are talking about one weekend. It may be the next or the last weekend. This becomes clear with the verb selection. Two example sentences are “What are you doing on the weekend?” and “I went to see the film at the weekend.”
“At/on weekends” is used when one is talking about weekends in general, that is more than one weekend. This is usually the case when one is talking about a routine and regular activity. Two example sentences are “I play golf at weekends” and “The rate of entry tickets are raised by 20% on weekends.” It is useful to know that one also says “over the weekend”. It means “during the weekend”. The adverbial “at/on the weekend” and “at/on weekends” can be used at the start of the sentence, if one is emphasizing the time of occurrence. In normal sentences, the phrase is used in the sentence and its position depends on the sentence pattern.
One should be aware of the fact that in British English one says “on weekdays”. Words ending with “day(s)” take the preposition “on” before it.
______________________________________In British English, the preposition “at” is used with weekend(s). The phrases are “at the weekend” and “at weekends”. American English is liberal and accepts the preposition “on” too. The phrases are “on the weekend” and “on weekends”.When one says “at/on the weekend”, the implied sense is that you are talking about one weekend. It may be the next or the last weekend. This becomes clear with the verb selection. Two example sentences are “What are you doing on the weekend?” and “I went to see the film at the weekend.””At/on weekends” is used when one is talking about weekends in general, that is more than one weekend. This is usually the case when one is talking about a routine and regular activity. Two example sentences are “I play golf at weekends” and “The rate of entry tickets are raised by 20% on weekends.” It is useful to know that one also says “over the weekend”. It means “during the weekend”. The adverbial “at/on the weekend” and “at/on weekends” can be used at the start of the sentence, if one is emphasizing the time of occurrence. In normal sentences, the phrase is used in the sentence and its position depends on the sentence pattern.One should be aware of the fact that in British English one says “on weekdays”. Words ending with “day(s)” take the preposition “on” before it.
