National Days and Celebrations

Konu Anlatımı

What Is a National Day?

A national day is the day on which a country remembers an important event in its history. That event can be the founding of the country, the day it became a republic, the day it gained its independence, or the day two parts of the country came together. The most important characteristic of a national day is the adjective national: it belongs to the whole nation, not to one region or one family. On a national day the whole country stops working for a day. This day is called a public holiday, and it is not the same as a festival. A festival is usually a local or religious celebration, while a national day is written in the official calendar of the country and belongs to everybody.

Two important verbs describe the way people treat this day. To celebrate means to have a happy, active time together, with parades, music, food and family. To commemorate means to remember an event quietly and seriously, for example by putting flowers on a monument or by observing a minute of silence. A national celebration often contains both: in the morning people commemorate the event at a ceremony, and in the evening they celebrate it with a concert and fireworks.

Dates: Ordinal Numbers and Prepositions

Dates in English are the classic place where students make mistakes. There are three rules you must learn together. First, the day of the month is ordinal: the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the eleventh, the twenty-ninth. Second, the day takes the preposition on, and the month takes the preposition in: on the 29th of October, in October. Third, the definite article the is used before the day number but not before the month: on the 15th of July, and never on the 15th in July. When you write the date without the month, remember that the ordinal ending is added directly to the number: 29th, not 29th of the.

• on the + ordinal + of + month: — It is celebrated on the 4th of July.
• in + month / in + season: — The parade is in October, and the flowers are beautiful in spring.
• every year on + date: — Every year on the 2nd of June the squares fill with people.
• in + year: — The law that created the republic was accepted in 1923.
• at + clock time: — The ceremony begins at ten in the morning.

National Days around the World

Every country has its own day and its own traditions. When you learn these dates, learn them in a complete group: the country, the name of the day, the date and one typical activity. This is the format that exam questions use, and a student who learns only the month always loses a point.

How People Celebrate

The activities of a national day are very similar in many countries, and this makes them easy to describe. In the morning there is usually a ceremony with officials, the national anthem and the flag. Then a parade goes through the main streets with bands, schools and old cars. In the afternoon many cities have a concert or a sports match, and in the evening there are fireworks. Families visit their relatives, they prepare a big meal together and children receive small presents. In some countries people also wear traditional clothes and decorate the streets with flags before the day begins.

• Preparations before the day: — Schools and families decorate the streets with flags.
• On the day itself: — People attend the ceremony and watch the parade in the main square.
• Family part: — Relatives visit each other and have a meal together.
• In the evening: — The celebration often ends with a concert and fireworks.

Sample Question and Solution

Read the short text and answer the questions.

Republic Day in Turkey is celebrated on the 29th of October every year. In the morning the ceremony begins at ten in the town square, and afterwards a parade goes along the main street. Schools prepare short performances for two weeks before the day. In the evening many families have a meal together, and the streets are full of people until late at night.

Question: When is Republic Day celebrated, and what do people do in the evening?

Solution: Step 1: Find the date in the first sentence; the text gives the 29th of October. Step 2: Look for the time signal for the second part; the word evening shows you where the answer is. Step 3: Find the activity in that part of the text; it is having a meal together with the family. Step 4: Write two complete sentences. Answer: Republic Day is celebrated on the 29th of October, and in the evening many families have a meal together.

Common Mistakes

Four mistakes appear in almost every test. The first one is the article before the month: write on the 29th of October, and not on the 29th in October. The second one is the verb form of a long day name: a single day such as Republic Day takes the singular verb, so write is celebrated. The third one is forgetting the ordinal ending: write the fourth of July, and not the four of July. The fourth one is confusing celebrate and commemorate: celebrating is active and happy, while commemorating is serious and about the memory of an event.

Summary

A national day is the day on which a country remembers an important historical event, and it is a public holiday for everybody. The date needs the ordinal form of the day, the preposition on before the day, the preposition in before the month, and the article the before the day number only. The verb celebrate describes an active and happy time, and the verb commemorate describes a serious remembrance of the past. Typical activities are a ceremony with the flag and the anthem, a parade, school performances, a concert, fireworks, and a family meal with relatives.

Ne Öğreneceğiz

National days, public holidays and the way people celebrate them: dates with ordinal numbers, parades, flags, family meals, and the difference between celebrating an event and commemorating it. Bu konuda ögrenme çıktıları:

• Names a national day, says which country it belongs to and gives its date with ordinal numbers.
• Uses on the 29th of October, in October and every year correctly with dates.
• Explains the difference between celebrate and commemorate in a simple context.
• Describes how people celebrate, with parades, flags, fireworks, concerts and family meals.
• Reads a short text about a celebration and finds the date, the place and the activities.
• Spots and corrects mistakes with ordinals, subject and verb agreement and prepositions of time.

Ön Bilgi

Bu konuya başlamadan önce temel kavram ve ön koşulları kavramanız yardımcı olacaktır. Konunun çerçevesinde şu kavramlar dikkat ister:

• A national day belongs to the whole country, it is written in the official calendar, and it is a public holiday for everybody.
• To celebrate means to have an active and happy time, and to commemorate means to remember an event quietly and seriously.
• The day of the month is ordinal and it takes the preposition on, while the month takes the preposition in.
• The definite article the comes before the day number but never before the month in a date.
• Ordinal endings in English are two letters: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th, 21st, 29th and 31st.
• A long name of one day is singular, so a sentence like Democracy and National Unity Day is celebrated takes a singular verb.
• The typical activities are a ceremony with the flag and the anthem, a parade, school performances, a concert, fireworks and a family meal.
• Learn each national day in a group of four: country, name of the day, date and one typical activity.

Basit Örnek ve Günlük Yaşam

Günlük yaşamda ve mesleki bağlamda bir uygulama:

Soru: Write the date 29 October in English, in two different ways, and then use it in a sentence.

1. Step 1: Change the number into the ordinal form, and remember the two-letter ending.
2. Step 2: Put the preposition on before the date, because a specific day takes it.
3. Step 3: Put of between the day and the month, and never a preposition before the month itself.
4. Step 4: Add the verb and the subject, for example is celebrated, and keep the month in the lower case.

Sonuç/cevap: Republic Day is celebrated on the 29th of October, and it is celebrated every year in October.

İleri Örnek

Daha ileri bir uygulama:

Soru: Compare Republic Day in Turkey with National Day in China in three sentences.

1. Step 1: Name both days with their countries so the reader knows which is which.
2. Step 2: Give the date of each day with the correct ordinal and prepositions.
3. Step 3: Use the connector while to join two different pieces of information.
4. Step 4: Add a comparative adjective if you want to compare the activities, for example busier or more crowded.

Sonuç/cevap: Republic Day in Turkey is celebrated on the 29th of October, while National Day in China is celebrated on the 1st of October, and the Chinese holiday is usually a week longer.

Adım Adım Çözülmüş Örnek

Example 1: Writing a Date in English konusunun adımları:

1. Step 1: Change the number into the ordinal form, and remember the two-letter ending.
2. Step 2: Put the preposition on before the date, because a specific day takes it.
3. Step 3: Put of between the day and the month, and never a preposition before the month itself.
4. Step 4: Add the verb and the subject, for example is celebrated, and keep the month in the lower case.

Karşılaştırma Tablosu

Sık Yapılan Hatalar

Putting a preposition before the month: Write on the 29th of October, because the of is a link and a preposition such as in never goes before the month in a date.

Using a plural verb with the name of one day: A single day takes a singular verb, so write Democracy and National Unity Day is celebrated, not are celebrated.

Forgetting the ordinal ending: Write the fourth of July and the twenty-ninth of October, because English ordinals always end with two letters.

Leaving out the article before the day number: A specific day takes the definite article, so write on the 15th of July and not on 15th of July.

Confusing celebrate with commemorate: Celebrating is active and happy with parades and food, while commemorating is a quiet and serious act of remembering an event.

Using the present simple for a single celebration that is over: If the text is about one day in the past, the verbs must be in the past simple instead of the present.

Özet

A national day is the day on which a country remembers an important historical event, and it is a public holiday for everybody. A date needs the ordinal form of the day, the preposition on before the day and the preposition in before the month. To celebrate is active and happy; to commemorate is a serious act of remembering. Typical activities are a parade, a concert, fireworks and a family meal.

Kendini Dene

Soru: Write a paragraph of 80-110 words about a national day in your country. Give its exact date with ordinal numbers, say whether it is a public holiday, and describe four activities of the people: the ceremony, the streets, the family and the evening.

Örnek cevap: Marking key: the date written correctly with on, the and of (5 points); the day described as a public holiday (3 points); four realistic activities (6 points); at least one activity with a correct preposition of time (3 points); correct singular or plural verb forms (2 points); spelling and punctuation (1 point). Total 20 points.