Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[musicgold]

Hi All,

I don't understand why the following sentence use 'the' before 'day'. I feel the sentence means any day and not a particular day. Can you please help? Thanks.


'According to Dr Meddis, the 'tiredness' we feel at the end of the day is produced by a chemical mechanism in the brain which makes us sleep.'

[CP]

You are right: it does not refer to any particular day, yet it is commonly used. At the end of the day / the night / the week / the month / the year / the cycle / the season / the quarter, etc., are all correct.

It may sound better to say "the day" rather than "a day" because we would use "a day" to mean "a period of a day."

At the end of the week, we like to relax by having a barbecue.

At the end of a week of rain, the rivers were at record levels.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[musicgold]

CP,

Thanks.