If I was a TV host of a TV show (similar to The big Brother)and wanted to talk about the events happened during the week to the participants, considering that they first entered the house on Monday, could I consider the week the one that started on Tuesday and ended on Monday? And so would it be acceptable to say" This week a lot has happened, for example every night while you were sleeping one of your belongings has been taken away and hidden and your task is to find them again in the house"?
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3Possible duplicate of Meaning of "First day of week" in different countries– FumbleFingersSep 27, 2017 at 17:47
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1What I was asking is if it's possibile to include Tuesday as first day of the week in certain circumtances like the one I wrote though. My question is a little more specific– Eliana GrossoSep 27, 2017 at 17:51
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Once you introduce a determiner (this week, the past week, etc.) I think you have to accept that week has a relatively fixed meaning. I don't really see how you could expect your audience to "redefine" the word depending on which day of the week you happen to be using such an expression (it's not like today, for example, which does change day by day).– FumbleFingersSep 27, 2017 at 18:01
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In the US, the week begins on a Sunday, unless you are talking about the "work week" which is M-F. As FumbleFingers says, no one would assume that by "this week" you meant "the week starting Tuesday and ending the following Monday" -- unless you explicitly say so.– AndrewSep 27, 2017 at 18:35
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So how would you say if you wanted to describe a series of events happened from Tuesday to Monday? Would" in this past week" be fine?– Eliana GrossoSep 27, 2017 at 18:43
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1 Answer
Terms such as this week or next week are inherently vague, and they could mean different things depending on the context. Not every week needs to start on a Sunday or Monday.
Some people (such as police officers, firefighters, nurses, and convenience store clerks) may not work a Monday through Friday duty week. For them, a work week may start on a Wednesday, and their "weekend" may therefore start on a Monday.
Your example is another good example. If a reality television show airs on Tuesday night, and the host of the show says, "Let's recap what has happened this week," I would assume that the "week" being discussed started at the end of the last show, no matter which day that happened to fall on. (Incidentally, chances are the show was pre-recorded anyway, so, for all we know, what was heard by me on a Tuesday may well have been originally uttered on a Thursday).
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And what if the show was live and not pre-recorded? Like the last show was on Monday night and this current show was on Monday night too? Can this be considered a week? Sep 27, 2017 at 19:19
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Sure. Read the rest of my answer. A week is seven days. Although we often assume a Monday or Sunday start in most contexts, there is plenty of room for variation. In fact, if the show was not pre-recorded, it's more likely the week was an actually seven-day week. On the other hand, for a prerecorded game show, the host may say, "Joe has been here all week," when in fact he was only there for two or three days, because the producers might tape multiple episodes in one day.– J.R. ♦Sep 27, 2017 at 19:22
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