English articles are tough. When was the last time you watched a lesson about them? In this video, I try to erase the confusion between "next", "the next", "last", and "the last". The rule on using the article "the" before "next" and "last" is much simpler than you think. If you're having a hard time with this topic, you should definitely watch this video, and next time you're wondering whether to add a "the" before one of these words, you'll be much more certain. Don't forget to check your understanding by doing the quiz at https://www.engvid.com/english-grammar-the-before-next-last/

TRANSCRIPT

Yeah, it was really good to see you last night. No, I had a good time. Yeah, we haven't seen each other in ages, so we can get together again next week. Next week? Okay, I'll see you next week. Okay. Bye.

Sorry, that was just an old friend of mine. Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking and welcome to this lesson on "Next and Last Vs. The Next/The Last". So, this is a very common confusion, a very common grammatical problem that I sometimes hear from people who are learning English who are at the beginner, and intermediate, and sometimes at the advanced level even. But it's okay. You're here to learn, and if you've clicked on this video, like, you want to know this stuff and I'm going to do my best to transmit this information to you.

So, first: "next/last". Now, when you are talking and using "next" or "last" with a day of the week, a week, a month, a season, a year, basically you are referring to the one which means you are referring to the day, the week, the month, the season, or the year directly after or directly before the current one. Okay? So, you heard my conversation on the phone: "Yeah, it was great to get together, you know, last night. It was great to see you last night." The night before today, last night. And I said I will see them next week, the week directly after the current week. Okay?

So, for example: "See you next week!" The week directly after this week, the current one. "I saw him last night." I saw him basically directly before today. Or if it's night now, I saw him last night, the night before this one. Next: "Did you call her last Friday? She told me you promised her you were going to call her. Did you call her last Friday?" The Friday before now, the most recent Friday. Okay?

"Next month will be busy." So if you are, you know, preparing for the holiday season or a specific time of the year where it's going to be very busy for you, and your family, and your friends, you can say: "Next month", the month directly after this one. So, for example, if it's January, next month is February. If it's March... March, April. Yeah, I know my months. March, the next month... Well, next month after March is April. Okay? So: "I will see you next month. Next month will be busy."

"I can't wait for next summer!" Okay? So if summer just finished and the weather is getting colder if you are in a country that, you know, has more than two seasons or one season in some cases, please... You know, you can say: "I can't wait for next summer. I can't wait." And finally: "We're going to travel to Prague next year." The year after this one. So if the year now is 2017, next year is 2018. Okay? So we're travelling there next year. So, you use "next" and "last" with a day of the week, or just the word "week", or a month of the year, or a season, or a specific year when you want to refer to the one directly after or directly before the current one. You got it? Can I move on to the next part? Yeah?

Okay, the next part. So: "the next" and "the last". So, when you are talking about the period of seven, 30, whatever number of days, or weeks, or months, or seasons, or years, or any other historical periods, whatever - starting at or preceding, which means coming before the moment of speaking, you use: "the next", "the last". Okay, that's a lot of information, so if we just look at some examples I think it's a lot easier to understand and to see what I mean. So, for example: "The next 2 weeks will be tough." If you are preparing for exams and you have exams for two weeks from now when you're speaking, the moment of speaking, you're thinking ahead, like: "Oh, man. Next week and the week after next week", so the next two weeks, this period of time will be tough starting from my moment of speaking.

Next: "The last month has been amazing." So, basically the 30 days preceding today. So a month, 30 days, or 31 days, or 29, or 28 days depending on the month and leap years, and things like that. You can say: "Oh my god, the last 30 days, the last month has been amazing." The 30 days preceding now have been amazing.