"on tomorrow"

[Unregistered]

Is it correct to say "on tomorrow" as in "we will have a meeting on tomorrow afternoon" ?

 

[engee30]

Is it correct to say "on tomorrow" as in "we will have a meeting on tomorrow afternoon" ?

No, it isn't. :-(

 

[David L.]

The colloquial expression is 'have a meeting on' as in:
He: " A few of us in Accounting are arranging to go out for lunch. Would you like to join us?
She: "Love to - any day but Thursday. I have a monthly Managers' meeting on Thursday."
'have a meeting on Monday/tomorrow/next week'

Using it in the future tense, it sounds 'odd', 'forced', so avoid it:
"The boss is not happy with the sales figures and wants to talk to heads of section, so it looks like we'll have a meeting on tomorrow. Don't make plans for getting away from work early!"
Better to use 'will arrange' or 'meeting will be arranged'

 

[engee30]

...
'have a meeting on Monday/tomorrow/next week'

Even in dictionaries they use the same method to introduce possible (variant) options to choose from. I'm afraid to say it's rather confusing:

'have a meeting on Monday/tomorrow/next week' (but do I have to think that on can apply to tomorrow and next week as well?) The answer is NO. That's why I take the liberty of editing your example into this:

'have a meeting [on Monday]/[tomorrow]/[next week]'

This way, I dare to think, it's easier to know which phrase can take a preposition, and which cannot.

 

[David L.]

engee30 :

Understand that I am referring to what is colloquial.

'to have a meeting on' is the informal way of saying, 'have a meeting set for tomorrow/ arranged for tomorrow.

"I have an exam on tomorrow/ exams on all this week."

 

[engee30]

engee30 :

Understand that I am referring to what is colloquial.

'to have a meeting on' is the informal way of saying, 'have a meeting set for tomorrow/ arranged for tomorrow.

"I have exams on all this week."

I've got your point, David, but in this case it's not the preposition but the adverb, on. So it's actually not colloquial usage, it's standard usage.

 

[David L.]

engee30 :

So - let me be clear on this: you are taking me to task because I choose to differentiate what I would say informally (colloquially) as in ' I have a meeting on' from what I would say or write in a formal context.
I see 'standard usage' contrasting with 'variants' and 'dialects', not with 'colloquial'...and I do not feel sufficiently fired or enthused by any intrinsic importance in this issue to debate it further.

 

[engee30]

...
and I do not feel sufficiently fired or enthused by any intrinsic importance in this issue to debate it further.

Nor do I, David. :up: I just wanted to point out the difference between the usage of on as preposition and on as adverb in the sentence in question.