"Weekdays" used as an adverb

Question

I found a sentence in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary:

open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The bookstore opens weekdays from 9 p.m. to 6 p.m. .

How do we understand the structure of this sentence? I know it means something is open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

@J.R. Sorry, I learn English as a second language. I don't understand the sentence pattern. Why weekdays can be used here, and can you give me another similar example? — Yishu Fang, Jul 22 '12 at 09:59
No need to apologize for having English as a second language. I just wondered, if you realize it means something is open on Mon thru Fri from 9 until 6, what are you asking about? At least now we understand your question has to do with the sentence structure. — J.R., Jul 22 '12 at 10:12

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 22 '12 at 16:53

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In your reference, you can see that the word "weekdays" can be used either as a Noun (which you normally know) or as an Adverb:

The centre is open on weekdays. (Noun)

The centre is open weekdays. (Adverb)

In the second example, the adverb is describing the verb. So it doesn't need a preposition anymore to connect to the rest of the sentence.

In addition, we sometimes drop "on" before days in spoken English.

For example:

I work out Monday mornings.

See you Friday!

edited Jul 22 '12 at 16:53

FumbleFingers

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answered Jul 22 '12 at 10:38

Cool Elf

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-1 I don't think you can meaningfully say weekdays is an "adverb". What about my local shop, which is open Christmas morning until 11:30? Would you defend "Christmas morning [until 11:30]" as an adverb? I certainly wouldn't. It's just a qualifying noun, with the word "on" elided. – FumbleFingers Jul 22 '12 at 12:17
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@Fumble Fingers, check out the OP's source above. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary specifically mentions that "weekdays" CAN be an adverb – Cool Elf Jul 22 '12 at 12:25
In that case I think The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary is wrong. I will ask the community. – FumbleFingers Jul 22 '12 at 12:46
I don't suppose I'm going to win a shootout with OALD, but here's the question anyway. – FumbleFingers Jul 22 '12 at 13:16
Just saw it. Yes, I think that would do the job – Cool Elf Jul 22 '12 at 13:18
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@FumbleFingers, how right you were! – Araucaria - Him Jan 18 '15 at 20:50

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '12 at 10:10

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I believe that the full sentence is "open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.", and the "on" was dropped somewhere along the way. So "weekdays" here isn't actually used as an adverb, it just seems that way.

answered Jul 22 '12 at 10:10

Avner Shahar-Kashtan

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score 0 · Answer 3 · 2012-07-22T11:32:34.850

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Usually, it means "open from Monday till Friday, but not Saturday or Sunday". So "weekdays" is an adverb, because it qualifies "open".

edited Jul 22 '12 at 11:32

answered Jul 22 '12 at 09:52

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This store opens weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Is this sentence right? The adverb weekdays is used to describe the verb open, right? – Yishu Fang Jul 22 '12 at 10:02
@UniMouS why is so important for you to know whether weekdays is adverb or not? – Jul 22 '12 at 12:16
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@Carlo_R. Perhaps because I do not quite understand why this sentence can be written like this, and I try to get a better understanding of this sentence. – Yishu Fang Jul 22 '12 at 12:20

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 22 '12 at 10:14

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It's not a sentence, it's a sentence fragment. You'd normally hear it in a larger context, such as:

That grocery store is only open weekdays from 9 to 6.

You might see that “abbreviated” form on a storefront sign, though.

answered Jul 22 '12 at 10:14

J.R.

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@CoolElf has explained it rather well in his answer. – J.R. Jul 22 '12 at 10:56

"Weekdays" used as an adverb

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