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What day is next Tuesday?

When I refer to the very next Monday that will occur in the future, I say "next Monday". Some colleagues refer to it as "this Monday", with "next Monday" meaning the second Monday which will occur in the future (I would refer to that as "Monday week", "this Monday" to me would mean the most recent Monday in the past).

Are these both acceptable usages, or is one more correct than the other?

Community
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Gar Morley
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4 Answers4

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There is ambiguity in both phrases. The first is only due to loose usage, the second is due to lack of explicit reference.

"Next Monday," in the strictest interpretation, means whatever Monday will happen closest in the future, excluding the one you currently occupy if it happens to be Monday. I think of it as similar to saying "the next red stepping stone;" if you are on a blue stone, you're talking about the first subsequent red stone you will encounter, while if you're on a red stone, you're talking about whatever stone you will encounter after the one you currently occupy. If the speaker intends to reference the Monday after the closest one in the future, the appropriate phrase is probably "the Monday after next."

"This Monday," however, is ambiguous. "This" could be interpreted as "this week's," "this past," or "this coming." Unless one is pointing at a square on a calendar, it would probably be best to explicitly use one of the two latter phrases to eliminate any confusion.

ArchitectofAges
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To me, the meaning of this Monday depends on the tense; in the past tense, I would take it to mean this past Monday, and in future tense, I would take it to mean this coming Monday.

Next Monday I take to mean the next Monday in the calendar (so between 1 and 7 days in the future), and like you, I condsider Monday week = a week on Monday, but I'm unsure how widespread this usage is.

Mehper C. Palavuzlar
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CJM
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    Nevertheless, if it was Sunday and someone referred to something happening "next Monday" I would not think it was happening tomorrow. I would assume the person would have said tomorrow in that instance. – Robusto Jan 28 '11 at 12:42
  • @Robusto: Usually in that situation, the person would say 'tomorrow'. If not, I would ask them to clarify. – CJM Jan 28 '11 at 12:54
  • What if it's monday today and they say "a week on monday", does that mean go a week ahead and pick that monday. or go a week ahead and pick the monday you are now on? i.e. if it's monday then is "a week on monday", in one week or two weeks? – barlop Apr 06 '13 at 16:47
  • @barlop - I'd say two weeks - a week after the next Monday after today. If you meant one week, you would probably say a week today. – CJM Apr 07 '13 at 16:19
  • @CJM what about if it's monday and you say 2 weeks on monday? is that three weeks then? Since you say that if it's monday and somebody says a week on monday,it is 2 weeks.Surely 2 weeks on monday would be three weeks?Or would you say two weeks on monday is the same as a week on monday? Also, you can argue that "if it's monday you wouldn't say a week on monday if you meant next monday you'd say next monday".But similarly,if you meant 2 weeks time and that monday,u wouldn't say "a week on monday" or "two weeks on monday",you'd say "in exactly 2 weeks" or "two weeks from today" or "2 weeks today" – barlop Apr 07 '13 at 21:32
  • @barlop in summary, my answer is that the meaning could be ambiguous, depending on the differing interpretation of listener and speaker. To avoid this ambiguity, we use yesterday/today/tomorrow (and next Monday), when needed, to clarify. It's easy enough to be clear, but we also like to be brief, which is where we can introduce this ambiguity. – CJM Apr 08 '13 at 09:07
  • @CJM yes but my question to you there, was. If today is monday, you said you would interpret "a week on monday" as 2 weeks. How would you interpret 2 weeks on monday? – barlop Apr 08 '13 at 10:49
  • @barlop - same as 'three weeks from today', obviously. You can scale this up - 'a year on monday' would be 53 weeks hence. As I said, in my previous comment, we have yesterday/today/tomorrow to add clarity - we can infer something from their lack of use as well. '2 weeks on monday' = 21 days; '2 weeks today' = 14 days. Likewise, as Robusto suggests, if today is Sunday, 'next Monday' would be in 8 days; if we meant the next actual Monday (i.e. the next day) would have more likely said 'tomorrow'. – CJM Apr 08 '13 at 15:00
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This is always a contentious issue and it does come down to personal preference.

I would take 'last Monday' to mean the previous Monday.

'This Monday' is the very next Monday in the calendar. If it's Sunday, 'this Monday' is tomorrow.

'Next Monday' is the next but one. If it's Sunday, 'next Monday' is a week tomorrow. I too would take 'Monday week' to mean 'a week on Monday'.

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As used in my local area (Great Lakes region of the USA), "Next whateverday" refers to the upcoming day of that name that's NOT in the current week. "This" would refer to the upcoming day in the current week (assuming user specified future rather than past).

Brian Knoblauch
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