Meaning & use
school day
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Meanings
nouncountable
A day when school is open and classes are held.
Grammar: Countable: a school day, two school days. Often used in the phrase 'on a school day'.
Patterns
- on a school day
- a school day
Monday is a school day, so we can't go to the beach.
The children were late on the first school day of the year.
Is tomorrow a school day?
nouncountable
The time spent at school during one day, especially the hours of lessons.
Grammar: Often used with 'the': the school day starts at 8:30.
Patterns
- the school day starts/ends
- during the school day
The school day begins at 8:30 and ends at 3:00.
She was tired after a long school day.
Students can't leave during the school day without permission.
nounusually pluralliterary
The years of a person's life when they attended school; often used in the plural to suggest nostalgia.
Grammar: Usually plural 'school days' when talking about the past period of life.
Patterns
- in one's school days
- school days
In my school days, we played football every break.
She often thinks back to her school days.
School days were the happiest time of his life.
Word forms
| plural | school days |
|---|
Common combinations
- a school day
- Tomorrow is a school day, so go to bed early.
- the school day
- The school day starts at 8:30.
- school days
- He often talks about his school days.
- on a school day
- We don't watch TV on a school day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- term day
- Rare; used in some regions for a day when school is in session.
Opposites
Word family
- school noun
- A place where children go to learn.
- schooling noun
- Education received at school.
Commonly confused: school day or school-day?
school day vs school-day
As an adjective, 'school-day' means relating to a school day (e.g., school-day routine). As a noun, write two words: school day.
Practice
The school day ___ at 3 p.m.
Choose one answer.
The subject 'the school day' is singular, so the verb takes -s: ends. 'End' is plural, 'ending' is not a main verb here, and 'is ended' is passive and unnatural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “school day”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.