On/In my last holiday I went to Greece?

Question

I've got difficulties in using prepositions. I'm not sure how to say it correctly.

On my last holiday I went to Greece.
In my last holidays I went to Greece.
In my last holidays I was in Greece.

What would a native speaker of British English say?

Answer 1

The answer depends on exactly what you're trying to say.

We do not use in with holiday, except in the case of in the holidays, meaning "at some point during the period of time referred to as the holidays". If you talk about "in my holiday", you are not using idiomatic English - and definitely not British English. "In my holidays" is meaningful, but only to refer to a period of time like the summer holidays, the time pupils and students have without school in the summer. However, it's still an unusual turn of phrase. "In the summer holidays" is, however, idiomatic.

The distinction between holiday and holidays, in British English, is slightly more complex than singular versus plural. The idea of holiday can mean either when you go away from home for leisure reasons, in which case you would use an article:

"I want a holiday in Spain."

Or some other determiner:

"During my holiday in Spain."
"During my holiday to Spain."

I'll get back to that choice between in and to later. You can also use on, rather than a determiner, in order to create a phrase that can be used to describe a state or as an adverbial phrase:

"I had fun on holiday in Spain."
"I won't be replying to emails next, as I will be on holiday."

If you use holiday in this sense, and pluralise it to holidays, you are referring to multiple different trips.

"I had four holidays last year, to Spain, to Bermuda, and twice to Ireland."

Of course, a holiday need not be to another country.

"I'm planning two holidays this year, one in Scotland and once to the Lake District."

The other meaning, referring to scheduled time off, is most familiar in reference to the six gaps in school each year - the summer holidays (usually but not always plural), the Easter holiday or holidays (can be either, in my experience), and the Christmas holiday or holidays (likewise), along with the three half-term holidays, each usually referred to as a holiday rather than each being holidays - each is a week long. You can talk about the school holidays and you might be referring to all six together, or to just one instance.

This meaning is also used in relation to adults for their time off work, especially where it is scheduled and the whole workplace shuts down. We have a system of legally guaranteed paid annual leave, but people will often refer to such leave as holiday, and having paid holidays.

In this sense of "time off", that may or may not include "going away", we can use the work in for the things that happened.

"I'm going to play a lot of Fortnite in the holidays."

But we can also use during.

"I'm going to miss you during the holidays."

For the sense of a trip away, we wouldn't use in. We would tend to use on, for, and during, with slightly different meanings. If we did something for a holiday, that means it is the thing that represents the whole holiday.

For my next holiday, I'm going white-water rafting.

That means that the entire trip is based around white-water rafting.

For my next holiday, I'm thinking of going to Spain.

That means that you are consider Spain as the destination of your next leisure trip away.

On holiday is either used as an adjectival phrase to refer to the state of being on a leisure trip away, or to refer to things that happen while taking such a trip.

Don't try to talk to me about work, I'm on holiday!
While I was on holiday, I could just forget about work.

During a holiday is just a qualifier that says things happened in the course of such a trip, much like during for the other use of holiday.

During my next holiday, I want to try white-water rafting.

This means that you want your next holiday to involve white-water rafting, but not necessarily to be entirely based around it.

So, to get back to your specific question, any of the following might be appropriate, but they have meanings that are different, subtly or not so subtly:

For my last holiday, I went to Greece.
During my last holiday, I was in Greece.
In the holidays, I went to Greece

Answer 2

I think the best to use is none of your three propositions, I would rather say:

For my last holiday I went to Greece.

Holiday as a singular noun commonly refers to a specific day or event, which is your case because you are talking about your last holiday :

It’s a public holiday on Monday, isn’t it, so I suppose the banks’ll be closed?

She seems very tired and upset at the moment. She needs a holiday.

We booked a holiday online yesterday – two weeks in Greece.

Source: cambridge_dictionary_british-grammar and oxfordlearnersdictionaries