Italian · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 17
Il lunedì lavoroOn Mondays I work
Seven days, two rules, zero prepositions. The days of the week — lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì, sabato, domenica — are written lowercase and used BARE: Lunedì c'è il mercato («this Monday»). With the article they become a habit: Il lunedì lavoro («every Monday»). Many languages lean a preposition against their days; Italian does not — and Mike puts one there anyway. Plus: almost all the days are masculine, but la domenica is feminine.
Dialogue
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A lunedì?— «On Monday»? (the uninvited preposition)
- GiuliaMike, quando c'è il mercato?Mike, when is the market on?
- MikeIl mercato c'è… a lunedì!The market is on… «at Monday»! (A preposition leaned on the day — the slip this chapter fixes: Italian days go bare.)
- GiuliaLUNEDÌ! I giorni sono nudi: Lunedì c'è il mercato. E IL lunedì = ogni lunedì!MONDAY! The days go bare: Lunedì c'è il mercato. And IL lunedì = every Monday! (ogni «every», glossed.)
- MikeLunedì c'è il mercato! E il sabato e la domenica?This Monday there's the market! And Saturdays and Sundays?
- GiuliaIl sabato c'è la passeggiata — e la domenica… la famiglia! La domenica è femminile, come la famiglia.Saturdays it's the passeggiata — and Sundays… the family! And note: la domenica is feminine, just like la famiglia.
Dialogue
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La settimana di Marco— Marco's week
- GiuliaMarco, quando sei qui?Marco, when are you here?
- MarcoIl lunedì e il martedì la mattina; il mercoledì e il giovedì il pomeriggio.Mondays and Tuesdays in the morning; Wednesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon. (il + day = every — the habit article, four times over.)
- GiuliaE il venerdì?And Fridays?
- MarcoIl venerdì sono qui tutta la settimana… no — TUTTO il giorno! E domani? Domani è sabato: alle sei, passeggiata!Fridays I'm here all week… no — all DAY! And tomorrow? Tomorrow is Saturday: at six, passeggiata! (tutto il giorno «all day», glossed; Marco tangles his words and laughs.)
Vocabulary
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- lunedì
n.m.Monday (accented -ì, never changes; lowercase like all days)
- martedì
n.m.Tuesday
- mercoledì
n.m.Wednesday (a cousin of mercato hides inside)
- giovedì
n.m.Thursday (soft g — «jo-ve-DI»)
- venerdì
n.m.Friday
- sabato
n.m.Saturday (stress on the FIRST syllable: SA-ba-to)
- la domenica
n.f.Sunday — the only feminine day (stress: do-ME-ni-ca)
- la settimana
n.f.the week (built on sette — seven days)
- il giorno
n.m.the day (buongiorno's second half, finally on its own)
- domani
adverbtomorrow (a domani = see you tomorrow, from chapter 2)
Grammar
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The days: bare for once, with the article for always
Explanation
The seven days: lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì — all masculine, all accented on the final ì, all invariable — then sabato (stress on the FIRST syllable: SAbato, the sdrucciola pattern you know) and la domenica, the only feminine one. They are written lowercase: no capitals. The two usage rules. One: for ONE specific time, the day goes BARE — Lunedì c'è il mercato = this Monday. No preposition: if your language leans an «at» or «on» against its days, here it comes off. Two: for the HABIT, the article arrives — Il lunedì lavoro = every Monday; La domenica c'è la famiglia = every Sunday. It is the same habit-article as the day parts (la mattina lavoro). The rest is already yours: quando asks for the day (Quando c'è il mercato? — Giovedì), domani answers for the near future, and la settimana holds it all together — seven days, like sette.
Examples
- Lunedì c'è il mercato. — Il lunedì lavoro.bare = this Monday; article = every Monday — one letter of difference, a week of meaning
- lunedì, martedì… — SAbato, la doMEnicafive end-stressed brothers, one first-stressed, one feminine — the full family
- Quando c'è il mercato? — Giovedì!quando asks, the bare day answers
- Domani è sabato: alle sei, la passeggiata!tomorrow + day + alle-time: your first full appointment in Italian
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