Trouvez des professeurs en Anglais
Angela
On the last day versus last day
Hello,
is it acceptable to say last day omitting the preposition on?
I don't know the reason but it rolls off the tongue better in that sentence.
Is it a difference between AE and BE??
Although the guide arrived in time on the last day ( context of holidays) , the coach he drove was uncomfortable
Thank you
9 mars 2022 18:40
Réponses · 4
1
To be grammatically correct you should say ‘on the last day’, but it’s normal and acceptable in casual spoken English to omit the preposition. I don’t think there’s a difference between American and British English in this respect.
9 mars 2022
Invité·e
Both are acceptable, but you would use them in different contexts. The preposition “on” makes it an adverbial phrase of time:
We arrived on Thursday.
We arrived on Christmas.
We arrived on the last day.
If you use “the last day” as a subject or an object of a verb, you wouldn’t use the preposition:
The last day will be challenging.
We planned the last day carefully.
You might drop the preposition in informal situations where it’s obviously being used to mark an adverbial phrase and it wouldn’t be confusing to remove it:
We saw him (on) the last day.
In your example, I would use “on” because it’s next to another adverbial phrase (“in time”). “In time the last day” would be a little unclear to me, but maybe others wouldn’t have a problem.
9 mars 2022
Vous n'avez pas encore trouvé vos réponses ?
Écrivez vos questions et profitez de l'aide des locuteurs natifs !
Angela
Compétences linguistiques
Anglais, Italien, Japonais, Ladino (judéo-espagnol), Espagnol
Langue étudiée
Anglais, Ladino (judéo-espagnol)
Articles qui pourraient te plaire

Speak More Fluently with This Simple Technique
7 j'aime · 2 Commentaires

How to Read and Understand a Business Contract in English
15 j'aime · 3 Commentaires

6 Ways italki Can Help You Succeed in Your School Language Classes
12 j'aime · 7 Commentaires
Plus d'articles