Let’s imagine it’s currently Wednesday the 1st. Does “next Saturday” mean Saturday the 4th (the next Saturday to occur) or Saturday the 11th (the Saturday of next week)?
The 11th. “This” is the upcoming. “Next” is the one after that.
Source: being a human being and scheduling stuff with people for many decades
edit: To be clear, I agree that is how it should work for Saturday. For sunday, I’d prefer to use “next” over “this” when referring to the future
Small change
Say it is Wednesday and you want to refer to the immediate upcoming Sunday. Which sounds better:
- “Next Sunday I will do X” (edited)
- “This Sunday I will do X” (edited)
To me, “next” feels more appropriate, while “this” feels like it should be past tense, referring to the most recent Sunday that just passed.
This could also be affected by location, and whether Sunday or Monday is the start of the week.
I feel like the tense of the rest of the sentence determines which day you’re referring to when you use “this.”
“I went to the movies this Saturday.” Would be the Saturday that just happened
Vs
“I’m going to the movies this Saturday” would be this coming Saturday
You could of course further disambiguate it by using “this past Saturday” and “this coming Saturday” if you really wanted to, but I think in most contexts the rest of the sentence does it well enough.
Oh yes, I guess I should add more words to the examples
- “Next Saturday I will go to the movies”
- “This Saturday I will go to the movies”
“this” feels more appropriate
- “Next Sunday I will go to the movies”
- “This Sunday I will go to the movies”
“next” feels more appropriate
Even with the “coming” to clarify, it feels more natural to associate “this” with items that are in this week (Sunday to Saturday) and “next” with items that start on the following week’s Sunday
I guess part of the disagreement here is about what a week is. Sunday to Saturday vs Monday to Sunday
In this context, a week is 7 days starting with the day you’re on. So if its a Wednesday, this week starts on that day and goes through Tuesday. On Thursday, this week becomes Thursday through Wednesday. Any day in “this week” would be “this $day”. After the last day of “this week”, we start next week and the days in that week are “next Saturday” for example.
Yep that makes sense :)
If you ask someone to meet you somewhere “next Saturday”, you’ll be stood up by 99.99999% of the population if you’re expecting this Saturday.
The standard usage is unanimous. Whatever you think “makes sense”, the entire population has already agreed on the standard. Anyone who “understood” you picked up what you meant from other context. Because you used it incorrectly.
I wasn’t super clear in my first comment, I clarified more here
https://lemmy.ca/comment/7703958
This was more about digging further into why some words feel correct over others, and if the pattern is consistent enough to define it as:
- “This”: for when the date is present in the current week (Sunday-Saturday)"
- “Next”: for when the date is present in the next week (starting on the following Sunday)
If there’s a chance of ambiguity, I usually clarify
“This”: for when the date is present in the current week (Sunday-Saturday)"
“This” if for days occurring within the next 7 days. The calendar week is irrelevant.
The start of the week has nothing to do with it. “This week” is 7 days from today. Any days within “this week” are “this $day”.
Just say on Sunday if you don’t like the term This.
Next always means there is one present to which one must come after. “Who is next in line?” Would be correct to use in all situations except when asking who is first in line.
“Who is next in line?” Would be correct to use in all situations except when asking who is first on line.
This is not true. “Next in line for the throne” for instance refers to the first person in line for the throne, unless you for some reason count the person currently on the throne as also in line. When a cashier tells “Next!” they expect to serve the first person in line, not the person after them. You’d think someone was crazy if they said “I’m next” when there’s people before them.
The only scenario I can think of off the top of my head where “next” is not the first person in line is when you add qualifiers to slice the line and refer to the first person after that slice, eg “after Alice, Bob is next in line.”
Next in line for the throne is still “second in line, after the current king” so it doesn’t work.
Okay, but I already addressed that in my last comment. The current king isn’t in line for the throne in the same way as people already inside a club aren’t in the line for the club. “Next in line after Alice” is the same as “first in line after Alice”, you’re taking a subset of the line and pointing to the first in that subset.
- This Saturday = the 4th
- Next Saturday = the 11th
But this Saturday is the 2nd
Using the calendar dates in the question.
No shit, Sherlock.
Saturday the 4th is part of “this week” so it’s “this Saturday”.
Saturday the 11th is part of “next week” so it’s “next Saturday”.
Otherwise “next Saturday” and “Saturday next week” would mean different things.
Yeah, it’d be great if that were the case. But Saturday the 4th is also just the next Saturday in terms of Saturdays.
It’s an ambiguous term and so always needs clarify gbas you and the person you’re talking to may be thinking along different lines.
I think we can all agree it’s confusing. I am just pointing out that there is an internal consistency in why it’s phrased in this way.
If somebody says to me next Sunday I just assumed they mean the next Sunday to come around. Especially because there is a lot of ambiguity about when the week begins and ends. American software likes to default to calling Saturday the final day of the week, and Sunday the first day of the following week.
Technically “next Sunday” is the nearest Sunday (eg “sunday of next week”), however next Saturday is not (because it’s the Saturday of next week"). This assumes we all accept that Sunday is considered the start of the week - which isn’t always the case nowadays.
It’s chaos! But I’m just pointing out that there’s a wired logic to it, which I assume at some point made more sense than it does in our time.
“This Saturday” is the first Saturday occurring in the next 7 days. "“Next Saturday” is the one after “This Saturday”.
I would call the 4th “this Saturday”, and the 11th “next Saturday”. But it’s ambiguous enough to ask for clarification.
I would do the same, and I would also say next Saturday the 11th just to avoid ambiguity.
Yeah, if I want to be clear I say “the following Saturday.” There’s no room for ambiguity.
I’d interpret “next Saturday” as the one on the 11th, and “this Saturday” as the one on the 4th.
Approximately 5 days before the day in question, “next” becomes “this”.
That’s the answer.
Excellent question that has always bothered me too.
It goes like this
“Next Saturday”
“You mean this Saturday? Or next Saturday?”
“Next Saturday”
“Okay”
Because English is not an efficient tool for communication.
Absolutely this. Because it is never clear which is meant without being qualified, you have to do this every time unless you specify. I would just say Saturday the 4th to save the exchange.
Not efficent but certainly effective.
Definitely versatile
Thinking about it. Couldn’t it be argued that its actually quite efficient?
You have lots of words that have multiple meanings and the difference is i the context, the tone, and the words used in conjunction with them. For example.
Fuck.
It can be an insult, a proposition, an exclaimation of pain, a state of repair etc. And all these things and the rest can be expressed with that one word.
Theres more just like it but just as an example.
Why say many words when few work? Or whatever the Office quote is.
It would be efficient if (when) the meaning was adequately conveyed. If the usage necessitates a back-and-forth then that is inefficient.
I dont understand. My example is perfectly described by your point. One word that has many uses where context implies meaning.
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Yep, I already discovered that xD
Now I am trying to prove that I’m right on the Internet to make myself feel better
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It hadn’t occured to me that I could be misunderstood, in the same way that it didn’t occur to me to explain that Saturday is the one after Friday. When I say “next Saturday” it’s completely obvious what I mean!
Judging by the comments here, and the fact that 4/9 people in my group thought I meant one thing and the other 5/9 thought I meant the other thing, this is a phrasing that I’ll have to retire. Even my own mother disagrees with me! I don’t know how I’ve made it so far through life without it being a problem before now
Use “the following…” to be clear next time.
Yeah, I would usually just say the date but is was in a hurry on this occasion and ended up with a lot of confusion
Following only works when you are taking about both of them. “We’re having pizza this Saturday and tacos the following Saturday.” is very clear. If you just say “We’re having tacos the following Saturday”, there is no context to indicate the saturday following what?
I just tell people the actual date to avoid disambiguity. Just like with time zones. Too many people say EST or CST even when we’re in DST.
Out of curiosity, how would you say “this saturday” and “next saturday” in your native language and what would the literal translation be?
I would say “this Saturday” and “next Saturday”, which literally translates to “this Saturday” and “next Saturday”. My native language is English ;)
Hah, oops, I thought you meant that you learned this lesson as a non native english speaker! I must have misunderstood.
Don’t worry, I’m on your side.
Edit: I’m an expert on Saturdays
This.
There’s no point in “this” Saturday, just say Saturday. Or Saturday the 4th.
“Next Saturday” is ambiguous, but most native English speakers will consider the following week, not the week you are in.
This.
Next.
Today is Friday, 3/1.
“This Saturday” - Saturday 3/2.
“Next Saturday” - Saturday 3/9.
What if it is Sunday? Does this Saturday refer to yesterday?
Only if the rest of the sentence matches the tense to make that clear.
I went to a movie this Saturday
This one is yesterday. But I personally would just say “I went to a movie Saturday” and drop the “this” entirely in that case.
I’m going to a movie this Saturday
This one refers to the upcoming Saturday.
If its in the past, it is “this past Saturday” or “last Saturday” (assuming its not Sunday and you are just saying yesterday).
No. This week is a rolling 7 days from the day you are on. “This $day” indicates the day that falls in “this week”. You can use yesterday on sunday or “this past Saturday” to indicate the saturday that fell the previous 7 days.
The way I interpret it is that “next Sunday” is the same as saying “next week’s Sunday.” Meanwhile, “this sunday” refers to “this week’s Sunday.” So if it’s Friday and I want to meet 5 days from now, I would call it next Wednesday. But if it’s Monday and I want to meet 5 days from now, I call it this Saturday
But also, anyone with even a bit of courtesy would give a full date, along with the day of the week, if they’re the to schedule something
I’ve found that the meaning depends on regional differences in both English and Norwegian, and as a result I never use “next Sunday”. I say “Sunday in a week and a half” or the date instead.
Same in France.
I think in German it’s not regional but pure chaos
Edit: here is a map. You don’t need to understand German to see there ain’t no patterns
This Saturday is the Saturday that is occurring in that week, i.e. the 4th, and next Saturday would be the 11th.
I would immediately ask. As others have mentioned, “this Saturday” would mean the 4th in your example, but next is too ambiguous; the 4th is the next Saturday on the calendar.
This same thing can happen outside of English as well.
You can also look up “half five”. Depending upon your culture, it means 5:30 (half PAST five) or 4:30 (halfway UNTIL five in the hour before).
I think a lot of people are over thinking this. I don’t think anyone would say next Saturday meaning this Saturday at all. You’d just say Saturday.
Like, “I’m going to see dune 2 Saturday.” There is no need to clarify which Saturday it’s going to be if you don’t muddy it by trying to qualify it needlessly.
So next Saturday should always be the Saturday after this upcoming one.
Right? But no, actually wrong. I said “next Saturday” thinking it was obvious, and 4/9 people thought I meant this Saturday
I don’t think anyone would say next Saturday meaning this Saturday at all
I am someone who does this. I know it’s convention to say “this Saturday” for that, but when I’m not thinking about it too hard, it just comes out as “next Saturday” aka “the next Saturday I will experience after this very moment” aka what you would call “this Saturday”. I usually have to immediately follow up with a disambiguation, because I usually only catch myself after having said it.
