This week received a question about time expressions from Dara in Cambodia. He asks,

本周我们收到了关于时间表达的一个问题，提问者是来自柬埔寨的达拉R0OU5yjYmc;1SX2hB。他问，

Do you use the phrase "last Tuesday?"

你使用"上个星期二"这样的表达么？

If so, what does it mean? Does it mean "on Tuesday last week" or "on Tuesday this week?"

如果用的话，它是什么意思呢？它的意思是"上周的星期二"还是"这周的星期二"？

I have the same question for "next Tuesday." Thank you. - Dara, Cambodia.

关于"下个星期二"，我也有同样的问题28QvT8UHCZh]。谢谢你(2.J7y@%U=@VNF。-达拉，来自柬埔寨^;,*6OjYW-mfTD86r。

Dear Dara, That is a great question.

亲爱的达拉，这是个很棒的问题6]eDT.eO!)i。

Even native English speakers can misunderstand these expressions.

就算是说英语的本地人都可能理解错这样的表达N5kL_pgb5_6q9。

"Last" and "next" are both adjectives.

"上一个"和"下一个"都是形容词%f^bn[3CtWCHrjxKH1。

When we use them with a day of the week, their meaning can change depending on the time we are speaking.

当我们把这两个词和一周内的某天连用时，它们的意思会根据我们说话时的时间发生改变@MH9@ScVYD#En,pz。

"Last" means the most recent.

"上一个"意思是最近的fCYJfh8GAE8;。

If today is Wednesday, and I tell you, "I talked with her last Tuesday," you might think I meant I talked with her eight days ago.

如果今天是星期三，我告诉你，"上个周二我和她说话了，"你可能认为我的意思是我八天前和她说过话W~9j([_1MRDvc!t。

The reason is if I had talked with her only one day ago, I would have said, "I talked with her yesterday."

因为如果我就是一天前和她说过话，我会说，"我昨天和她说话了gQRTvg(Mnv4@C1o。"

So, when I say, "I talked with her last Tuesday," I mean the Tuesday of the week before.

所以，当我说"我上个周二和她说话了，" 我的意思是前面那一周的周二~wyPnrP),0k。

Now imagine that today is Thursday or Friday.

现在假设今天是周四或者周五[OM8kj~PAPi。

That means Tuesday is only a few days ago.

那么周二就是几天前1lHCm^R3i7RFxnuwxP。

Here is what I would probably say: "I talked to her on Tuesday."

那么我很可能会说："我周二和她说话了oj0vEtca%!sJ!N7。"

But now imagine it is Saturday or Sunday, a little further away from the day I talked with her.

但是假设今天是周六或周日，距离我和她说话的时间稍微有点远)_]_a;KQv(1!。

If I say, "I talked with her last Tuesday" you would probably ask me, "Do you mean on Tuesday of this week?" to make certain of the exact day.

如果我说，"我和她上个周二说话了"，你很可能会问我，"你说的是本周的周二么？"来确定具体日期QoJ[y=u@8FN)。

Note that people in different places where English is spoken use these expressions in somewhat different ways.

注意，说英语的人们，地区不一样他们使用这些表达的方式也有些不同cRBj]rb#km!%_cT++-J。

So it is not unusual for native speakers to ask questions when they hear someone using "last" or "next" with a day.

所以本地人听到别人说"上一个"或者"下一个"某天时，他们也会询问，这很常见EzRz%AHp4xdg。

"Next" means "coming after the one that just came or happened." Suppose you get a message by email that says, "The meeting is next Tuesday."

"下一个"意思是"刚刚发生的那天之后而来的Pz||LZh*G3。"假设你收到一封邮件内容是，"会议安排在下个周二TVUMQj^aTCJE_8%|E,。"

Since today is Wednesday, it is clear that the meeting will be in six days.

因为今天是周三，很明显会议在六天后召开INLFKdl!2!#。

But if you have not been reading your email regularly and you get the message on Monday, you may want to check the date on the message.

但是如果你没有定期查看邮件，周一才看到，你可能想要核实消息中会议的日期BFB4bV(lvr^[k_UgxT。

If you did not look at the date of the email, you would probably think the meeting is in eight days.

如果你没有看邮件的日期，你很可能会认为会议在八天后召开=n-B*8WP9Ez[=。

The reason is that the writer would have said, "The meeting is tomorrow" if it was on Tuesday of the current week.

因为如果是本周周二的话，发件人可能会写"会议明天召开s,75*szfdqz72PDU,z;_。"你可以检查下自己是否理解了^.NB98].3&r2+v(l^5z。

You can check your understanding. Imagine that today is Friday. You are having a party eight days from now. Which expression is the best to use?

假设今天是周五DFd0.*8z^.q。你将会在八天后开派对.+991.83&z4Z^_1R|。用下面哪个说法最好呢？

1. Can you come to my party next Saturday?

1. 你下周六能来参加我的派对么？

2. Can you come to my party on Saturday?

2. 你周六能来参加我的派对么？

And that's Ask a Teacher for this week.

以上就是本期名师答疑的全部内容#A=|J-%RtPQUmQ。

I'm Jill Robbins.

我是吉尔·罗宾斯vYNu&PhlT|8M|YIw。