"I do not go to school on Sunday."

Translation: No voy a la escuela el domingo.

[mslinda6357]

definition for "on" is a, en, and de. why the heck is "el" used.

[duerksen-s]

It seems to be just a general rule that when you are referring to days of the week you use the article in front of it instead of a, en, or de. For example I attend yoga classes on Sundays would be "asisto a yoga los sabados". If it's in general, like all the Sundays, you use the plural, and if it's on a specific one you use the singular.

[MikeyDC65]

While I completely agree with you about using the articles, you have a small error in your example: Sundays == domingos

[duerksen-s]

ah you're right. my mistake. thanks!

[cocacola321]

I always make the same mistake. Any tricks for remembering that sábado isn't Sunday?

[MeredithNa]

I don't know if this helps, but knowing the origins of the names of the week in both languages helps.
Saturday is literally "Saturn's day" and "sábado" sounds a little bit (to my ears) like the word "Saturn" - although as above, it is based on the word "sabbath" which is, of course, Saturday.

Check out this fascinating explanation of the origins of the names of the week.

P.S. I remember viernes=Friday because Venus and Fria are the only two female gods in the names of the week in both languages.

http://spanish.about.com/od/historyofspanish/a/names_of_days.htm

[djangosChef]

Sunday Sun: Domingo Dominus (Lord);
Monday Moon: Lunes (Moon);
Tuesday Tiw (heroic glory) : Martes (Mars: war);
Wednesday Odin (poetry): Miercoles (Mars: poetry);
Thursday Thor (thunder): Jueves (Jove: thunder);
Friday Frigga (Thor's wife): Viernes (Venus: Love);
Saturday Saturn (agriculture): Sabado (Sabbath)

[MeredithNa]

Sorry, not Fria, Frigg. facepalm

[cocacola321]

Sounds like Sabbath which confuses me more.

[BarbaraMorris]

Sabbath originally referred to Saturday. Sabbath still means Saturday for some people, mainly those of the Jewish faith.

The way I learned the Spanish day names was to memorize it as a whole list the way a kid would.

Say the list 10 times every day for 10 days (really)

lunes martes miércoles jueves viernes sábado domingo

[CliffJonesJr]

Saturday is the Sabbath (the day of rest), even in Christianity. Sunday is "the Lord's day", which is more important to most Christians. You can remember that factoid by thinking of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In between, there was a Sabbath, when Jesus rested.

If you think of Sunday as "the Lord's day", this will help as well, since "domingo" is related to the idea of "dominion", something a lord has.

[tbarasmussen]

My grandparents are from Seventh Day Church. They go to church on what they call Sabbath (Saturday)

[kat_510]

In Spanish in school we were taught the days of the week by singing them to the tune of "Oh My Darling", starting with Sunday/ Domingo. I still sing it in my head when doing days of the week on here.

[SraOwens90]

One way i remembered it was by looking at the days of the week (sunday-saturday) as the alphabets. ("D"omingo would come before "S"abado). Hope that helps if not i can give it to you in a song

[BashInMinds]

It's just the idiom used in Spanish. You might as well be a Spanish person learning English and complaining (in Spanish), "The definition of 'el' is 'the,' why the heck is 'on' used?"

[ams125]

Why do you need a definite article here?

[swallama]

Why would you need to put "el" before "domingo"? I put "Yo no voy a la escuela en domingo"

[JGarrick62]

Regarding "la escuela," there are several answers that all seem to variants of "because that's how it's done in Spanish." That's fine, but if you need the definite article for a generic reference, what do you do when you need a specific reference. Imagine a maintenance worker that visits several public buildings.

"I don't go to the school on Monday. I go to the hospital. On Tuesday, I go to the school."

It seems that would be the same translation: No voy a la escuela.

Is it only context that allows us to parse the sentences correctly?

[MikeyDC65]

I realize you posed this question a couple of years ago, but I'll answer it in case it helps others with the same question.

For the most part, yes it is context, but you can also use a demonstrative pronoun to indicate you're talking about a specific place. In other words, your sentences could be:

«No voy a ésa/aquélla escuela el lunes. Voy al hospital. El martes, voy a la escuela.»

Notice how the inclusion of the demonstrative pronoun in the first sentence sets the stage for the other sentences so it is clear from context that you are referring to the specific locations.

[Laurenwestonn]

I thought 'a la' had to always be changed to 'al', or does that only count for 'de la' = 'del'

[caiser]

We don't change "a la" y "de la". We only contract "de el" and "a el" to "del" and "al"

[Sallyann_54]

Aha! I was wondering the same. Thanks.

[perla-floresta]

When two vowels are together in most languages there is often a way to modify it so you don't have to clumsily pronounce them. In English we change "a" to "an" to avoid this mixing of vowel sounds. In French they combine vowel sounds as well, for example, le + homme=l'homme.

[SraOwens90]

"A la" stays as is but you change "de el"> del

[kimban]

In school we learned that 'school' can also be translated into "Instituto" or "insti" for short, but apparently this is not the case on duolingo, can anyone explain? thanks :)

[FrederickN]

Do more people say escuela than colegio?

[L0ve_Joy]

Yes, colegio seems to be used more in the place of college or university. Like colegio de médicos o colegio de abogados. Escuela is more broad.

[noles_fan_4_life]

Colegio is used more here in peru for sure.

[Texasboyshaun]

I've heard native Spanish speakers (I like in Texas) so "no __ LOS domingos." which is correct, what I'm hearing, or the Duolingo sentence above? Thanks :)

[BritneySun]

It does not say "the school" it says "school." When I didn't write "la" it counted it wrong. Did this happen to anyone else?

[slmichalski1]

why does it have to be a la escuela when it does not say "i got go to the school"?