later/ealier this month vs late/early this month

Question

Hi teachers,Could you possibly help me understand when late,early,later and earlier are used :"Early Saturday, Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital was bombed by warplanes during the night." Can I use 'Earlier Saturday' interchangeably with 'Early Saturday'?"Speaking to reporters Friday in Honolulu, Obama praised Edwards as a "great champion of working people" during the campaign and said the couple indicated they would probably not attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month." Can I use 'late this month' interchangeably with 'later this month' ?"The professor will be arriving at the university later this evening". Can I use ' late this evening' interchangeably with 'later this evening'. "At an emergency session of the United Nations late on Thursday, Russia failed to push through an agreement for an immediate halt to fighting from both sides." Can I say' At an emergency session of the United Nations on lateThursday ' or 'At an emergency session of the United Nations late Thursday ' ? interchangeably with ' late on Friday'Thank you in advance

Feebs11 · Accepted Answer

TuongvanHi teachers,

Could you possibly help me understand when late,early,later and earlier are used :

"Early Saturday, Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital was bombed by warplanes during the night." Can I use 'Earlier Saturday' interchangeably with 'Early Saturday'? No. "Early on Saturday"

"Speaking to reporters Friday in Honolulu, Obama praised Edwards as a "great champion of working people" during the campaign and said the couple indicated they would probably not attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month." Can I use 'late this month' interchangeably with 'later this month' ? No - not in this context.

"The professor will be arriving at the university later this evening". Can I use ' late this evening' interchangeably with 'later this evening'. Possibly - if you intend to convey that he will be there very late in the evening, rather than sometime after the time of speaking.

"At an emergency session of the United Nations late on Thursday, Russia failed to push through an agreement for an immediate halt to fighting from both sides." Can I say' At an emergency session of the United Nations on lateThursday ' or 'At an emergency session of the United Nations late Thursday ' ? interchangeably with ' late on Thursday' No.

Thank you in advance

Clive · Answer

Hi,
Could you possibly help me understand when late,early,later and earlier are used :

"Early Saturday, Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital was bombed by warplanes during the night." Can I use 'Earlier Saturday' interchangeably with 'Early Saturday'? No. If you say 'earlier saturday', it indicates earlier than some other time on Saturday that you have already mentioned. .

"Speaking to reporters Friday in Honolulu, Obama praised Edwards as a "great champion of working people" during the campaign and said the couple indicated they would probably not attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month." Can I use 'late this month' interchangeably with 'later this month' ? No.

'Later this month' means after some point in the month that has been indicated.
eg On 2/July, I say 'I'll call you later this month'. I might call you on 5/July.

'Late this month' means near the end of this month.

"The professor will be arriving at the university later this evening". Can I use ' late this evening' interchangeably with 'later this evening'.
No. See my comment just above about 'late/later this month'.

"At an emergency session of the United Nations late on Thursday, Russia failed to push through an agreement for an immediate halt to fighting from both sides." Can I say' At an emergency session of the United Nations on lateThursday ' No.
or 'At an emergency session of the United Nations late Thursday ' ? Yes. Really, you are just omitting 'on'.
interchangeably with ' late on Friday' I think you mean 'Thursday', not 'Friday'.
'Late on Thursday' is correct, but 'on late Thursday' is not correct. Such phrases are idiomatic.

Best wishes, Clive

Tuongvan · Answer

Thank you Feebs and Clive ,

I understand " later this month" and "late this month" now.and how about the exact meaning of "early Saturday" and "late Saturday"?Does "early Saturday" mean " in the early morning of Saturday" ? and " late Saturday " mean " in the late afternoon of Saturday" ? Could you possibly help me understand these phrases?

Thank you and Best wishes

Clive · Answer

Hi,
I understand " later this month" and "late this month" now.and how about the exact meaning of "early Saturday" and "late Saturday"?Does "early Saturday" mean " in the early morning of Saturday" ? and " late Saturday " mean " in the late afternoon of Saturday" ? Could you possibly help me understand these phrases?

These are not precisely defined phrases.
If someone says to me, 'I'll call you early Saturday', I'd usually expect them to call sometime on Saturday morning.

'I'll call you late Saturday'. Probably sometime on Saturday evening.

Clive

Tuongvan · Answer

Thank you Clive very much<img src="http://www.EnglishForward.com/emoticons/emotion-22.gif"/>

later/ealier this month vs late/early this month

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