The Difference Between Saying This Friday and Next Friday | #107

What's worse than showing up 1 week early for something, is showing up 1 week late. Both native and non-native English speakers confuse the use of "next Friday", and "this Friday". Listen closely today, and learn to communicate important dates and appointments as clearly as possible.

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Follow along with these phrases below:
This Friday Friday of this week

Next Friday Friday of next week

The Friday after next Friday 2 weeks from now

Double check Confirm my understanding 

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Transcript

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Welcome to the accent training podcast, a podcast where I teach you to harness the sounds of spoken English. My name is pat. I'm an accent coach from Toronto, and I teach the American accent. I this through one on one classes. I do this through video courses and I do this through my podcast, the accent trading podcast. And it's a pleasure to have you listening today, folks, and you are going to thank yourself for listening today. I don't even need to say thank you. You're gonna thank yourself. Be because you see, I've got this quick topic today and it's about time and the words that we use to describe future plans, plans that we've got coming up soon. For example, I've noticed a lot of people confuse the terms like , uh , this Friday versus next Friday, is it this Friday next Friday, honestly, even native English speakers mix these up and we'll double check to confirm dates and appointments. You wanna get that information crystal clear? So this is just a very quick episode to talk about that. I don't wanna take much time outta your day today , but I most certainly wanna make sure that you get the hang of this. So this is a very quick episode dedicated to just one quick little topic there. So let's get into it. The difficulty here, isn't people's interpretation of the word. Next people will assume that the word next is always referring to the immediate cell subsequent occurrence of something, which it often is. If something's coming up next, it means this is the following thing that will occur. The immediate subsequent occurrence. However, when somebody is saying, we'll go next Friday, they aren't talking about the immediate for Friday coming up, but rather the Friday of the next week, that is where the confusion comes in. Next Friday. Isn't saying the first Friday, that's gonna pop up. That's this Friday, next Friday is talking about the Friday of next week. So if a native English speaker says to you, let's do something this Friday, then they're talking about the Friday of this week, the immediate Friday coming up. So this Friday means Friday of this week. Next Friday means Friday of next week, this Friday, Friday of this week, next Friday of next week. Now how do we measure this week? I understand that weeks are kind of measured differently in different cultures. Some students of mine have told me that they consider Monday the first day of the week. Others consider Saturday. The first day of the week in my culture. Sunday is the first day of the week. Monday is the work day . Monday is the first work day of the week. We got Monday to Friday. Those are considered work days , school days, Saturday and Sunday are of course the weekend in my culture. However, Sunday is day number one of the week. Saturday is day number seven. Saturday is the final day of the week. And so suppose that you're making plans for a Tuesday, Tuesday of the next week, the next cycle of Sunday to Saturday. And it's Wednesday in your current week, your Wednesday. So you've already passed Tuesday. Tuesday was yesterday. What would you say in this case? Would you say this Tuesday? Or would you say next Tuesday? Well, I would still say next Tuesday, I would still say, we're gonna go out there Tuesday . I wouldn't say this Tuesday, this Tuesday is the Tuesday of this week. Next Tuesday, the Tuesday of next week. However, you could say this coming Tuesday. Whoa . Okay. Now this is getting confusing. So instead of saying next Tuesday day , if you want to be crystal clear on that date, because Tuesday's already behind you this week, you could say this coming Tuesday, we'll go this coming Tuesday. Or I booked a flight for this coming Tuesday. It's next Tuesday. It's Tuesday of next week. So this coming Tuesday is the next Tuesday to come up. So this Tuesday, Tuesday of this week, next Tuesday, Tuesday of next week, this coming Tuesday is the next Tuesday. That's going to appear on the calendar the next Tuesday, whether it's this week or next week, this coming Tuesday, it's like the one that's coming towards us. It's the Tuesday that's coming up. Now. What if you wanted to say two Tuesdays from now or two Fridays from now, we'll do this in two Fridays in two Fridays. Well, it doesn't sound very eloquent. Does it? I'll see you in two Fridays. Uh , it doesn't sound as nice. Here's what does sound nice if we say the Friday after next, we're leaving the Friday after next, it means, okay, not this Friday, not next Friday in two weeks, the Friday, two weeks from now, we wanna be clear about that. The Friday after next back onto Friday, Friday is more of a hopeful day than Tuesday for a lot of people. Friday is a day of freedom. And so we've got this Friday. We've got next Friday. We've got this coming Friday. And then we've got the Friday after next, this Friday, next Friday, this coming Friday, the Friday after next. So this Friday, the Friday of this week, next Friday, the Friday of next week, the following cycle of the, this coming Friday is the Friday. That is immediately coming towards us. Whether it's this week or next week in the Friday after next Friday, two weeks from now. Not this Friday, not next Friday, certainly not this coming Friday, but the Friday after next, let's take a moment and just kind of ingrain those in our memories. A little repeat after me this Friday, next Friday, the Friday after next, this Friday, next Friday, the Friday after next, this Friday, next Friday, the Friday after next next , there you go. Now it's coming together. Eh , this Friday next Friday, the Friday after next, this Friday, this week, next Friday, next week, the Friday after next two weeks from now. So here's a quick little pop quiz for you. If , if I say I made reservations at this restaurant for next Friday, well, that's not the Friday of this week. That's the Friday of next week, the following weekly cycle, the following Sunday to Saturday cycle next Friday, the Friday of next week, something to look forward to throughout the week. Okay? How about this? Plane? Tickets are cheapest the Tuesday after next. Changing it up now from Friday back to Tuesday, which by the way they say it's cheapest to fly on a Tuesday. This is what they say. I don't know if it's true. So Tuesday it was cheap to buy plane tickets for the Tuesday after next, the Tuesday after next. When is that? Is that the Tuesday of this week? No, no, it is not my friend. Is it the Tuesday of next week? Nope. It's not. It's the Tuesday of the week after that, the Tuesday after next. Here's one more for you. How about I'll call you this Thursday around five. I'll call you this Thursday, this Thursday, not the Thursday of next week. I'll call you this Thursday around five. What week is this? Is it this week? Is this Thursday for this week? Yes it is. This Thursday does not mean next Thursday. It does not mean two weeks after that. It means the Thursday of this week. And then of course this coming Thursday, I'll call you this coming Thursday. Maybe it's Saturday, right? Maybe it's Saturday. This Thursday's already passed. Next Thursday. You could say, but you want to be clear on your communication. So you can simply say this coming Thursday, I'll call you this coming Thursday. And this means the Thursday that's coming to us immediately. So when it comes to setting dates, you'll wanna get it right. You know, what's worse than showing up somewhere a week, early showing up somewhere a week late when you set an appointment with someone, but you're a little bit shaky on the actual date. You're not too sure on the eight. It's important to know what to say to double check this information and make sure that there's no miscommunication. So here's what you say. Let me double check with you. Is that this coming Friday, my voice kind of goes up in the coming there just to stress. This is the immediate Friday. Let me double check with you. Is that this coming Friday? Are you calling me this coming Thursday? Yes. I'll be calling you this coming Thursday. So that's just to be safe just to make sure that you're on the same page. Let me double check with you. It's equal to saying, let me confirm my understanding. Double check check twice. Let me double check with you. Let me confirm my understanding saying just let me confirm is fine as well. And it may sound even more professional, but honestly, it's something that you would more likely write in an email. Let me confirm this with you. It's very formal, very professional. Let me double check. However is more casual. You'll hear this a little more often from average folks. So there's a , I got another good way to confirm a date here is that Friday, the eighth or Friday, the 16th Friday, the eighth. My voice is kind of peeking up up Friday, the eighth or Friday, the 16th, my voice falls flat Friday, the 16th. You literally just give two dates, just two dates that it could possibly be interpreted as and ask if you got it right, just to make sure there's clear communication is that Friday the eighth and notice how I peak my voice up there on the eighth is that Friday the eighth. But then when I say 16th, my voice goes flat or Friday the 16th, Friday, the eighth or Friday, the 16th. It may feel a little awkward playing with your voice like that, but it's totally normal Americans raise the tone of voice English speakers in general. Raise the tone of voice to give extra importance , to words, to show what we really wanna stress Friday , the eighth, Friday, the 16th practice. That it's way better than mixing up your dates. If you use that and you feel a little bit silly, then that's okay. Watch episode number 100 and you'll learn that it's totally okay to fail when you're practicing your English. Totally okay to fail, but what's not okay is not using what you learned . So now that you've taken in this information, the agreement here between you and I, my friend is that you are going to use this information and that you are going to boost your communication through this information. Let's just review this quickly, this Friday, Friday of this week, next Friday, Friday of next week, the Friday after next, the Friday, two weeks from now this Friday, next Friday, the Friday after next, this Friday, next Friday, the Friday after next, this coming Friday is to say the immediate Friday that's coming towards us this week or next week. Maybe we're past Friday this week, maybe it's Saturday. That's okay. You can just simply say this coming Friday. You're not in next week yet. You're still in this week. Just say this coming Friday. That's okay. Double check. Let me double check with you. Is that this coming Friday is that this coming Friday, double check confirm my understanding and is that Friday, the 18th or Friday? The 16th. Let me double check with you. Is that Friday, the 18th or Friday, the six play around with these folks. Check the description. The description is going to have some notes and those notes are gonna help you learn this. So get a good feel for it. Practice this yourself. And you'll hear from me again next week. Thank you very much for taking the time to practice your English with me today. And if, if you are someone who doesn't wanna wait until next week, but if you don't wanna wait until next week to keep on moving your spoken English forward, that's totally fine. My friend check the link in the description and you will find a video course. My friend, that video course is going to help you enhance your spoken English with the, of the American accent. It's got a main focus on the letter T for example, the T in the word , certain I'm certain, the tips we learned today are gonna come in handy. Certain notice that word, certain the tea is coming through my nose. Mm it's not ATA, but a certain strong, flat, certain I'm certain. This will work. That is a sound that you can develop for your, this video course will help you smooth it out and give you dozens of examples of how you can apply this to your daily life and make it sound natural and flow along with the rest of your wonderful speech. So check out the video course, my friend, and take your spoken English to another level. Thank you very much for listen today. I've gotta get going at the moment. I've got some chores to take care of, little bit of laundry, to fold, buy some groceries. And I got one more class today that I do not wanna be late for. So thank you very much for listening. Have a wonderful morning or a wonderful evening. You know, I just, I picture some people are listening in their cars, driving, cuz I listen to podcasts. When I drive, I'll pick up some fast food or something, maybe a slice of pizza or burger and I'll just sit in my car, listen to a podcast, chill out. That's the way like it. Although this isn't an ideal podcast to listen to while you're eating, because I often have you repeat after me. And if you're repeating after me and you got food in your mouth, well that's, that's gross if you're eating at the moment, okay, that's fine. Thank you for taking the time. But next time you'll get an even better experience. If you're not eating while you're listening to the podcast. Other podcasts like the Joe Rogan experience. I listen to that one while I'm having lunch and stuff. And on that Joe Rogan podcast, he brings on, you know, just fascinating guests, people of all walks of life. And that's one is , you know, only listening. You don't need to participate, but if you wanna get the best experience outta this podcast, you've gotta participate. And that means you can't have food in your mouth. So I'm calling on everybody listening. It's okay to , to listen and participate while you're driving. Keep your eyes on the, and it's okay to listen and participate while you're washing the dishes. You're tying your shoes. Or if you are washing your hair, you're having a shower, washing your hair. You can participate. You can just read these words out, along with me, but if you're eating food or if you are brushing your teeth, you're gonna have to listen again, buddy. You're gonna have to listen again because you didn't get the full experience. And so give it another listen right back to the beginning and thank you for your time. Have a good one.