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Is I'm liking to take it easy on the weekend idiomatic?

The context is that I started to take it easy on the weekend recently and I'm liking the novalty, the new state of affairs.

I like to take it easy on weekends sounds like a general preference, not a change of pace.

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6 Answers 6

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If you just started relaxing on your weekends and are enjoying it, you might say, "I'm liking taking it easy on the weekends". The only context in which you'd use this form is one where you're enjoying the thing you're doing right now, but not in a habitual sense. You don't generally like to take it easy, so you aren't liking to take it easy, you are just liking taking it easy.

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    +1 'liking' is just a substitute word for 'enjoying' here.
    – JimmyJames
    Aug 29 at 20:45
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    No As a native and long time speaker of AmEn, I would NEVER say that. EVER.*
    – RonJohn
    Aug 31 at 21:01
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    @RonJohn I agree it's slightly awkward, but it's in principle no different from any other noun or noun phrase, like "I am liking my new job," or "I am enjoying relaxing on the beach". Aug 31 at 21:03
  • IMO, OP's sentence is definitely more than a little awkward.
    – RonJohn
    Aug 31 at 21:12
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From what you describe, I think most of the answers are not really conveying what you seek.

I'd suggest instead:

"I've been enjoying taking it easy on the weekend."

which (at least around here) would imply recency, and would be entirely idiomatic. If you wish to more strongly emphasize the recency, then perhaps make it explicit:

"I've recently been enjoying taking it easy on the weekend."

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  • "I've been enjoying taking it easy on the weekend" is really awkward to a native AmEn speaker.
    – RonJohn
    Aug 31 at 21:02
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    It sounds fine to this native AmEn speaker, @RonJohn. I could have made the same recommendation myself. Aug 31 at 22:10
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No, that doesn't sound quite right.

Since you want to convey the change, I might instead suggest:

I'm liking 'taking it easy' on the weekend

as an idiomatic way to say it: the phrase "taking it easy" uses "taking" as a gerund and acts like a noun. You will probably want to provide more supporting context if you want to make clear you're talking about a change. For example:

I used to work hard every day, but I recently started taking a book to the park every Saturday. I'm liking 'taking it easy' on the weekend.

For expressing more of a consistent preference, your phrasing "I like to take it easy on weekends" sounds great; "I like taking it easy on weekends" is also good, but you're right that neither implies any change of pace.

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    Not worth an answer but the first thing that came to mind to suggest a change is "I'm really liking this whole 'taking it easy on weekends ' thing", or "I could really get used to taking it easy on weekends". (Not that I disagree with your way or anything, there's just a bunch of ways to say it.)
    – Thierry
    Aug 29 at 12:20
  • "I'm really liking this whole 'taking it easy on weekends' thing" is the best form. This comment needs to be highlighted more (or even an answer suggesting a better alternative!)
    – justhalf
    Aug 30 at 8:04
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Putting aside the question of whether it's grammatical, the problem here is not with the present continuous. Because you're using it, your audience will likely assume you plan to continue taking it easy on future weekends, and you expect to like that too. It sounds like that's what you want to say.


That said, "I'm liking" is very awkward to my eyes. By contrast, "I'm enjoying" sounds normal to me. I can't explain the linguistic difference and am inclined to chalk it off as just another quirk of English idiom.

I do think nearly all fluent speakers would understand your "I'm liking to take it easy on the weekend" the way you intend it, but I also think it would mark you as an English student rather than a fluent speaker.

For what it's worth, a quick Google search of either "I'm liking" or "I'm enjoying" returns discussions about proper usage (probably including this one soon). But aside from those, the former is mostly in titles or other abnormal usage, while the latter returns more "organic" results.


I agree with those commenters that prefer the gerund "taking" over the infinitive "to take". Again I can't explain why - I just think one is more common and thus received more easily.


As an additional note, the choice of "the weekend" versus "weekends" may be important regardless of the verb. Especially if it is currently a weekend, your audience might assume you meant that you were specifically enjoying this particular weekend. Whereas "on weekends" would imply that you've taken it easy on at least 2 or 3 weekends recently, and liked it. And because you're using the present continuous, we'd assume you plan to continue taking it easy next weekend, and expect to like that too.


Another option is to use the past continuous, which might be more common in English. It would have a very slightly different connotation here. "I've been enjoying taking it easy on weekends" has basically the same meaning as my previous suggestion, but without implying so strongly that you intend to continue your taking it easy.

Since people generally try to keep doing things they enjoy, we might assume that anyway so the distinction is very small for this example. On the other hand, if the next sentence were "But the hurricane wrecked my trees so I'll have to clean that up.", the past continuous might be more appropriate. After all, you won't be taking it easy this weekend - you'll be cleaning up.


Putting it all together, I think "I'm enjoying taking it easy on weekends" is the most natural way to say what I think you mean.

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No, "I'm liking to take it easy on the weekend," is not idiomatic English.

A better to phrase it might be, "I like taking it easy on the weekend."

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    This doesn't have the precise meaning the asker is looking for - it's essentially equivalent to "I like to take it easy on the weekend," which they say they don't want Aug 29 at 16:16
  • @crass_sandwich OP must say it anyway, whether they want to or not, because "I like to take it easy on weekends" is what we say.
    – RonJohn
    Aug 31 at 21:03
  • @RonJohn I completely disagree, also as a native American English speaker. "I'm liking taking it easy" reads as perfectly grammatical, and has a subtle but important difference from "I like to take it easy." Perhaps it's a newer invention? Sep 1 at 22:21
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I like to take it easy on weekends sounds like a general preference, not a change of pace.

"I just started to like taking it easy on the weekends" is the idiomatic English phrase that expresses what you mean.

(It reminds me of the song title "She just started liking 'cheating songs'". I don't know if it's the cheatin' she likes or just the melodies.)

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  • The OP means to convey that they just started taking it easy on the weekends, and they find that they like it. Your suggestion primarily communicates a change in the speaker's likes, not in their behavior. Aug 31 at 22:22

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