# at/in the weekend



## Llibertat

Hello!

Is it correct to use the preposition in with weekend?
For instance, *I usually go out in the weekend.*

It sounds better to me that saying at the weekend, but...is the above sentence correct??

Thanks for your help.

Llibertat


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## fenixpollo

I usually go out *on* the weekend = I usually go out during the weekend.

I usually go out *for* the weekend = I am usually gone the entire weekend.

I wouldn't use "in" or "at" in this context.

Saludos.


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## Llibertat

Thanks for the answer.
What about this context:

*I like to go to the cinema in the weekend.*

Would you use "in the weekend" or "at the weekend"?


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## Jfarinon

hello,

When I taught ENglish in Spain I was teaching British Eng and they say 
"at the weekend" . 

In the US we say "on the weekend"

depends on your audience....

entonces los dos, "at the weekend" y "on the weekend" son aceptables....


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## Llibertat

Seria aceptable tambien "in the weekend"?
"on" se usa para los dias de la semana. no sabia que se podia usar tambien con weedend.

gracias por las respuestas


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## Jfarinon

Yo diría con bastante certeza (esta bien dicho??) que nunca se usa "in the weekend" 

Si, se usa "on the weekend" en el EEUU, "American English". (De hecho, nunca se usa "at the weekend" en American English.) 

Por cierto, puesto que estudia en europa, tal vez sería mejor decir "at the weekend"


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## jacinta

Si es algo que haces regularmente los fines de semana, decimos "on weekends".  

I like to ride my bike on weekends.

Si es un fin de semana específico, diría, "I´m going to a movie this weekend."

"Last weekend I went to a movie."


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## dcgb7f21

Pero también se puede decir "on the weekends" cuando se esta hablando de algo que pasa regularmente. Las dos formas son correctas y las dos tienen el mismo sentido. Para algo que solamente pasa una vez, se dice "on the weekend" o "at the weekend".


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## Llibertat

Gracias a todos y todas por vuestras explicaciones. Como siempre, son de una gran ayuda.


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## kh.zameer

I feel on the weekend sounds much better!!!
Thanks
----


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## jacinta

Sí, se podría decir "on the weekend" pero, por lo menos en mi lado del mundo, no se suele decir.  Y no sé qué quiere decir "at the weekend".  Es algo británico y como dice Jfarinon, no lo decimos aquí.


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## robertopesantes

I think it is not a matter of what sounds well or not. It is a matter of how it is said. 
I am teaching British English and I found in the books "at the weekends" and also I have taught American English and I have found "on the weekend" but I´ve never seen or heard "in the weekend"


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## kpsonak

I have heard "on" or "over the weekend" rather than "in the weekend" in the U.S., but this sentence from the International Corpus of English (Great Britain corpus): 

"Well he'd better not get drunk and tell Jo what happened in the weekend." 

and this sentence from an apparently Australian rugby blog:

"Their last win before that was in round 14 when they beat the Baby Broncos in the weekend before State Of Origin." 

suggest that some people use "in."


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## Reina140

"over the weekend" & "during the weekend" are ways to avoid using "at" or "on"

I like to go to the movies during/on the weekend.


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## morgan yu

I Like "during The Weekend"


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## Valencia2007

hello, which expresions are more correct? 

at the weekend or on the weekend?

at the weekdays or on the weekdays?

thanks ;-)


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## Masood

Sí, una frase completa nos ayudaría al respecto.


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## Valencia2007

ok, thanks, i checked it but ...

I have to take the bus to go to my office at the weekdays
I have to take the bus to go to my office on the weekdays
 I have to take the bus to go to my office over the weekdays



also.... which prepposition for this sentence? 

I work in a pub at / on/ over the weekends


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## Agró

I have to take the bus to go to my office *on* weekdays.

I work in a pub *at* the weekend.


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## AlbertoCrakito

También puedes decir "I work in a pub on weekends". 
Todo depende de si estás usando los días de la semana o los fines de semana con pluralidad ("at the weekend" y "on weekends") y de que prefieras un inglés a otro.


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## neal41

Valencia2007 said:


> ok, thanks, i checked it but ...
> 
> I have to take the bus to go to my office at the weekdays
> I have to take the bus to go to my office on the weekdays
> I have to take the bus to go to my office over the weekdays
> 
> 
> 
> also.... which prepposition for this sentence?
> 
> I work in a pub at / on/ over the weekends


 
There may be some variation between dialects, but I would say 'on weekdays' or 'during the week'.  None of your sentences is correct.

I would say 'on weekends'.

You can say 'on the weekend' with a slightly different meaning.  'on the weekend' suggests only one weekend.  'at the weekend' sounds strange to me.


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## sound shift

As a BE speaker I say "at the weekend" and "on weekdays".


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## workingonit

We use "on the weekend" or "over the weekend" (in speaking of the coming weekend or the one just past).
I've never heard "at the weekend." (We usually use "at" for location in space, and in reference to time of day, like "at 10.")
For the habitual sense, we use "on weekends."

We use "on weekdays" or "during the week" (referring to Monday through Friday).
I haven't heard "on the weekdays" or "over the weekdays."


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## Valencia2007

thanks!!!!!! it is clear to me now, i knew that "at the weekend" is used in UK and not in the US, however my big doubts were about weekdays.

thank you very much!!!!


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## Seikun

All my cassettes and books, etc say "at the weekend" (British English). I learnt you use "on" when speaking of days or when the word "day" is involved.


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## natkretep

I was told 'in the weekend' is NZ English.


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## Aidanriley

Over, during, on, through work for me. At or in..definitely not.


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## gilon

"I usually go out *at* the weekend" would be the normal way of saying it in the UK, Ireland, and I'm pretty sure in Australia, New Zealand and other places too (I've never heard "in the weekend" mentioned by natkretep above).

A more idiomatic way of saying it, used colloquially here, is "of a weekend". For example: "What do you like to do of a weekend?".


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## BLT

Interesting: I hadn't heard "at the weekend" before. I suppose that we Americans say "on the weekend" by analogy with "on Tuesday", and the British say "at the weekend" in the same way that one would say "at the end of the week."

"At the end of the week" is indeed correct in American English, by the way, although I think the meaning would depend on context: it could mean Friday, the end of the work week, or it could mean the weekend.


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## timtak

I agree that "on the weekend" (as if a weekend were a day, since "on" is used for days) or "at the weekend" (as if the weekend were the end of the week and hence a point in time, since "at" is used for points in time) are more natural.

And as mentioned above "during the weekend" and "over the weekend" are fine too.

But there are about the same number (100 million) references to all three expressions "on the weekend," "at the weekend" _and_ "in the weekend"(!) on the internet. 

So is "in the weekend" coming into vogue?

By the way in one example above there was "in the last weekend before..." In that example, the weekend becomes one of many periods of two days and so sounds okay, to my ears, to use in. It is when the weekend is "*the* weekend" (whatever that means) that it needs an on or an at.

Tim
P.S. I had no idea I was already a member of this board.


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## BLT

I have my doubts that the number of results brought up by a Google search is definitive. Nevertheless, I did a Google search of my own, which yielded the following results.

Searching for "in the weekend" (with quotes) brought up a Word Reference thread first of all. (This very thread, perhaps?)

The following were the next ones:
in the Weekend Magazine
later in the weekend
late in the weekend
in "The Weekend"
semi-finalists in The Weekend Post
...earns 260mn in the weekend (from India)
...mysterious lights in the weekend sky

So we have one usage of "in the weekend," from India, and two examples of "late(r) in the weekend," from the US, plus other things that are random word combinations. I found a few other examples of non-native usage of this, but no evidence of native English speakers using "in the weekend," except for one sentence saying "there aren't enough days in the weekend" - which is a different sense.

Searches for "on the weekend" and "at the weekend" also brought up some random combinations, but fewer than "in the weekend." When used in the sense in question, "on the weekend" was mostly American, and "at the weekend" was entirely non-American.

Of course, there were other uses too, like a British site that had "thoughts on the weekend," and an American site that talked about "looking back at the weekend."

Google searches can be helpful for this sort of thing, but I think you have to dig a little, and be careful. And no, I don't think that "in the weekend" is coming into vogue.


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## timtak

Thank you. 

Though, there is also a rumour on one word reference  or other similar language related thread that "in the weekend" is used  in New Zealand. 

if you google for site:nz and "in the weekend then (just the first page)

In Zoe Paterson's 5th of August entry, she uses three in one paragraph.


> The formal *in the weekend* was a big event for the senior students *in the weekend*.  It was an absolutely fantastic night and I believe a great night was  had by all. Congratulations to the formal committee and the SADD  committee for making it such a successful night. Congratulations also to  all those teams involved in the Millers Flat Seven aside tournament *in the weekend*. The rain held off for the road race yesterday and it was great to see majority of students being involved.


And in Simon's blog





> Well the house has been keeping us busy.  And I messed up my shoulder playing touch* in the weekend*.


And in an auction for a dolphin





> This is a real life dolphin that me and my mates accidently caught while net fishing *in the weekend* up north.


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## Aidanriley

> The formal *in the weekend* was a big event for the senior students *in the weekend*. It was an absolutely fantastic night and I believe a great night was had by all. Congratulations to the formal committee and the SADD committee for making it such a successful night. Congratulations also to all those teams involved in the Millers Flat Seven aside tournament *in the weekend*. The rain held off for the road race yesterday and it was great to see majority of students being involved.


 


I'd like to see if any New Zealanders have any input. Honestly this whole paragraph sounds just awful to me.


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## stagbeetle

"In the weekend sky", referenced above by BLT, the 'in' refers to 'in' the sky. It could have said, "in the sky" but it clarifies the event took place during the weekend.


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## timtak

stagbeetle said:


> "In the weekend sky", referenced above by BLT, the 'in' refers to 'in' the sky. It could have said, "in the sky" but it clarifies the event took place during the weekend.



This is probably a cause of many of the 100 million hits for "In the weekend." "in the weekend long event", "in the weekend profits" are another couple of examples. 

But I don't think that it applies to the examples from New Zealand (even if they do sound awful to me too). Awful-sounding or not the Kewies may be being logical. 

Since the weekend is neither a point in time, nor a day, but a period of time, "in" seems more logical. I would not be surprised if in the distant future "in" became the preposition of choice. I wonder if there is generally a drift from the etemological ("at" the weekEND, "on" the-Weekend-as-opposed-to-a-weekDAY) towards the logical, "in" the period of time called the weekend.


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## filoifaga

Hi there, I've just been reading this (somewhat old) thread trying to find the most popular way of expressing this...and was quite surprised to find what everyone was saying! I come from New Zealand and over here, as some people have already suggested, most people use 'in the weekend' most often. None of the other options sound strange to me, but I don't think I'd find myself ever using 'on' or 'at'; although 'during the weekend' and 'over the weekend' would probably find there place in some situations. 
What surprised me was that my original query was whether the use of 'on' was more prominent than 'in' in AmE, but it seems my backward NZ version of English was more warped than I had originally thought! I think that perhaps if 'on' relates the weekend to a day in the week, and 'at' to the week's end, then perhaps we use 'in' here because the weekend is thought of as two days of holiday, and we always say "what did you do in the holidays?".


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## suzievesper

I am a native English speaker and teacher living in New Zealand and I do say 'in the weekend' and I've checked over the last few days and many of my friends do as well so I think it is quite common in New Zealand. A teacher I work with who is British questioned me over my use of it in a past tense exercise I had created for my ESL learners which is what prompted me to go and ask other people


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## Luca Tufo

at the weekend = British
on the weekend = *A*merican

I've never heard of "in the weekend"


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