Real English Conversation: How to talk about the weekend

Hello. My name is Emma; and today, I am going to teach you some very important

expressions and vocabulary about the weekend. I love the weekend. When I'm

talking about "the weekend", I'm talking about Saturday and Sunday. So, a lot of

the times, on Fridays and Mondays, people talk about the weekend. So, it's

very important to know vocabulary and expressions about the weekend, because

it's such a common part of conversation. So, let's look at some examples of

weekend vocabulary. So, on Friday... and notice I have "on"; a lot of students

make mistakes with this. But the preposition we use with days of the week

is the word "on". So, on Friday, people often ask this question: Do you have any

plans for the weekend? Do you have any plans for the weekend? Or they might not

ask: "Do you have"; they might just say: "Any plans for the weekend?" It's a very

common question people ask on Fridays, and what they want is for you to talk

about your plans for the weekend. "What are you going to do on Saturday? What

are you going to do on Sunday?" Now, another thing you might see on Friday is

sometimes people say: "TGIF", or they might write it somewhere. My sister,

Audra — who's going to help us in a little bit — and I often text each other

this: "TGIF". Every Friday, we write each other this. What does it mean? It

means: "Thank goodness" or "thank god it's Friday". We say this because we are

so happy it's Friday. No more work; it's the weekend — we can relax. So: "TGIF".

Another expression we might talk about on a Friday is the word: "long weekend".

A "long weekend" is a weekend that is three days. So, it might be Friday,

Saturday, and Sunday where you have it off work; or it might be Saturday,

Sunday, Monday. So, if you have a three-day weekend, we call that a "long

weekend". "Long weekends" are my favorite. I love "long weekends".

So, we talk about this on Friday, we do our thing on the weekend; and then on

Monday, most people go back to school or work. And this is often one of the first

questions you will hear on Monday — you'll hear: "So, what'd you do this

weekend?" And notice I have "what" with an apostrophe and a "d" — the "d" here

stands for "did". So, this can also be: "What did you do this weekend?" But, in

conversation, we often use contractions; or we shorten words, so: "What did you

do this weekend?" actually becomes: "What'd you do this weekend?" And this

is really hard for English-language learners, because, you know... they hear

this and they don't realize the "What'd" means: "What did". Okay? So, be careful

about this. "So, what'd you do this weekend?" You might hear somebody ask:

"How was your weekend?" You might hear this question: "Did you get up to

anything this weekend?" The word or the expression: "get up to" is a very common

expression, and it just means: Do. Okay? So, we use it when we're talking about

activities we did in the past. So: "Did you get up to anything this weekend?"

means: "Did you do anything this weekend?" So, they have the same

meaning. "Did you get up to anything this weekend? Did you do anything this

weekend?" If you hear somebody ask this question, one thing you can say is...

you can use: "get up to" in your response. You can say: "I didn't get up

to much." This means: "I didn't do anything, really. I didn't do a lot;

nothing special". So: "I didn't get up to much this weekend." It's funny, with

this expression, because we only use it in the negative. We do not say: "I got

up to a lot". We would say: "I did a lot", but in terms of when we use: "get

up to", we only use it in the negative form. "I didn't get up to much this

weekend". So, now, we are going to look at some common activities we do on the

weekend, and we are going to do a listening activity with my sister,

Audra.

Okay. So, there are many things you can do on the weekend. I'm going to give

some examples of some things I like to do during the weekend. Before I begin, I

just wanted to say one thing: There is a difference between British English and

American English when we're talking about the weekend. In British English,

we can say: "at the weekend"; in North American English, we say: "on the

weekend". So, both "at" or "on" are correct, depending on where you live and

where you're speaking English. So, let's get started on common plans we talk

about... or common plans for the weekend. Now, the first thing I wanted

to talk about is "brunch". "Brunch" is very popular in North America and other

countries as well. "Brunch" is a meal. People often have "brunch" at

restaurants. And if you notice: I've put equals "breakfast" plus "lunch". So,

"brunch" is between breakfast and lunch; it's usually around ten am or eleven am.

And people... especially on Sundays, people often go for "brunch". Okay? So,

you can say: "On Sunday, I had brunch with my family. On Sunday, I had brunch

with some friends." So, you'll hear people talk a lot about "brunch" in

North America. Another thing people often do — and I do this a lot during

the weekend — is we "binge" on TV shows. So, some people have Netflix, some

people have Hulu, some people have maybe DVDs, or some show they're watching.

When we "binge" on something, it means we do too much of something. So, if you

"binge on a TV show", it means you watch a lot of episodes of a TV show, back to

back. So, for example, when I was watching "Game of Thrones", I "binged"

on "Game of Thrones". Sometimes I watched four episodes in a row, and my

whole Saturday was spent "binging" on "Game of Thrones". So, this is a common

expression you might hear people talk about when they're talking about the

weekend.

Another thing people often do on the weekend is they "run errands". So, the

past tense of "run" is "ran". "So, on Saturday, I ran some errands." What does

this mean? Well, "errands" is a big term that covers many different activities.

"Errands" include doing groceries, you know... maybe getting a new cellphone

charger. It's those little, small tasks you have to do. So, those are "errands".

Maybe you have to pay a bill, and you have to go somewhere. Instead of saying

what each task is, you can just say: "errands". Okay? So, "errands" is

another word for "task". What do you have to do on the weekend? "I ran some

errands." A lot of people "meet up with their friends or family". So, this means

that they see their friends or family. So, I can say: "On Saturday, I met up

with some friends. I went to a BBQ or a barbecue". "BBQ" is the short form of

the word: "barbecue". We often talk about things we "get caught up on". So,

this might be a new expression. Sometimes in life, we feel like we're

behind. Our week is very busy, and so we need to have some time "to catch up" or

to get things done that we didn't have time to get done during the week. So,

let's look at some examples of things we "get caught up on". We can "get caught

up on schoolwork". So, this means: During the week, I didn't have time to

do some... some schoolwork. Now, I have time, so I "get caught up on

schoolwork". I "get caught up on housework". So, maybe during the week, I

couldn't do my laundry. Now, I can; I have time, so I "get caught up on

housework". Maybe you have a job where you have to do projects during the

weekend. You can say: "I got caught up on work". For some people, during the

week, they only get five hours of sleep. So, maybe they like to sleep late, or

take naps on the weekend. So, they can say: "I got caught up on sleep". Many

people like to "sleep in" on the weekend. This means they do not wake up

early; they sleep late. So: "On Saturday, I like to sleep in." And

"slept" is the past tense of "sleep". Finally, some people just say they

"relaxed" on the weekend. So, now we are going to do a listening activity. I've

taught you many words about the weekend. I'm going to bring my sister on, and

we're going to talk about her weekend and what she does.

Okay. So, now we are going to practice what we learned. I'd like to invite my

sister, Audra, over here to help us with our conversation. So, come on out,

Audra. Thank you for being here today.

No problem.

So, Audra, what'd you do this weekend?

Well, on Saturday, I had a family barbecue, and everyone came over. We had

burgers, and steak, and lots and lots of cake.

Wow. Did you do anything else on Saturday?

I did. I actually went out for coffee with my best friend, Christine. And we

did a bit of shopping, and it was really, really lovely.

Great. And what about on Sunday? What'd you get up to on Sunday?

So, on Sunday, I did something a bit exciting. I went to a sewing class, and

I made a fabric basket.

A fabric basket? Okay. So, Audra is going to show us her creation. Let's see

what Audra made. Ta-da. Not only is she beautiful, but she is very talented.

Thank you.

Did you do anything else on Sunday?

I think that was about it for... for Sunday. I do have some errands to do

when I get home; I will be doing laundry.

Okay. And what about: What time did you wake up during the weekend? Did you

sleep in?

I did not sleep in; I woke up around 7:30 in the morning, which is quite

early. I wish I could have slept in until eleven am; that would have been

much better.

Do you usually sleep in on weekends?

I do not; I get up quite early. I normally wake up at six am during the

week. On weekends, I could say I sleep in until 7:30am. Ideally, I would like

to sleep in until eleven am.

Wow. So, my last question for you, Audra, is about brunch. I know my

sister, Audra, loves brunch. Sometimes we go to brunch together. So, when do

you usually do brunch?

My friend, Lou and I, often do brunch on the weekends. On Sunday morning, we go

out for brunch, and we try different places, and we get to try many different

types of food.

All right. Well, thank you so much, Audra. Thanks for telling us all about

your weekend.

No problem. Thank you for having me.

So, thank you for watching. I want to invite you to check out our website at

www.engvid.com. There, you can actually do a quiz where you can practice

everything you learned today in this video. I'd also like to invite you to

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care.