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Lucus Ong Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Christmas and christmas day

He visited them on Christmas.
He visited them on Christmas Day.
according to my understanding to christmas and my oxford dictionary.
Christmas get the same meaning with Christmas Day.
But how come my textbook says the first sentence is wrong.u
  

Top answer

I think that your textbook is too prescriptive, because your first sentence is really OK. The point that they wish to make is that 'Christmas' is a holiday period, so we would more often say ' at/during Christmas'.

— Mister Micawber

  • I think that your textbook is too prescriptive, because your first sentence is really OK.
  • The point that they wish to make is that 'Christmas' is a holiday period, so we would more often say ' at/during Christmas'.
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3 Answers
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I think that your textbook is too prescriptive, because your first sentence is really OK. The point that they wish to make is that 'Christmas' is a holiday period, so we would more often say 'at/during Christmas'.
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"They're coming to our house on Christmas" is a common construction to mean Christmas Day. Christmas is a season that begins on Dec. 25 and goes on for 12 more ("The 12 Days of Christmas"); any unspecified time during the season could be refered to as "at Christmas(time/tide)". Furthermore, activities are common "on" Christmas Eve and "on" Christmas Day.

[Many textbooks
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Hi Philip,

"They're coming to our house on Christmas" sounds odd to me, and I certainly wouldn't assume it referred to Christmas Day.

It's amazing how English speakers manage to communicate at all, isn't it?

Best wishes, Cl
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