1. 表示“假日”“假期”,有以下3个意思:

(1) 表示“假日”,指诸如星期日、元旦、国庆等之类的假日,通常指一天的时间,为可数名词。如:

a national holiday

全国假日

Today is a holiday in Wales.

在威尔士今天是假日。

Happy Holidays!

节日愉快!

Friday is a holiday in Muslim countries. 在穆斯林国家星期五是假日。

New Year’s Day is a holiday for everyone. 元旦是所有人的节日。

New Year's Day is a public holiday throughout Britain

元旦是全英国的公众假日。

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(2) 表示“放假”,指不上学或不上班,既可指一天,也可指多天。如:

the school/summer/Christmas, etc. holidays

学校假期、暑假、圣诞节等假期

the summer holidays/vacation

暑假

We have a holiday tomorrow. 我们明天放假。

The school holidays start next week. 下星期学校就开始放假了。

I enjoyed an agreeable holiday this summer.

今年夏天我度过了一个愉快的假期。

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He's bronzed from a short holiday in California.

他在加利福尼亚度过了一段短暂假期,皮肤晒成了古铜色。

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(3) 表示“度假”,指外出旅游或度假,既可指一天,也可指多天。如:

a camping/skiing/walking, etc. holiday

露营、滑雪、远足等度假

a family holiday

合家度假

a foreign holiday

国外度假

a holiday cottage/home/resort

度假别墅 / 住所 / 胜地

the holiday industry

度假服务业

She was holidaying with her family in Ireland.(动词)

她当时正和家人在爱尔兰度假。

You take a chance on the weather if you holiday in the UK (动词)

在英国度假,只有赌天气了。

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Vacant rooms on the campus were being used by holidaying families.

校园里的闲置宿舍住着一些度假的家庭。

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Ischia is a popular seaside holiday resort

伊斯基亚是个很受欢迎的海滨度假胜地。

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I quite enjoy mountain holidays. 我相当喜欢在山区度假。

They must have been having a holiday yesterday. 他们昨天大概是在度假。

有时可用复数,意思不变。如:

We had our holiday(s) in July. 我们是在7月份度假的。

Less and less people can afford to go abroad for their holiday(s). 花得起钱去国外度假的人越来越少了。

2. 用于on holiday,可用作表语或状语,其中通常不用冠词,但有时可用物主代词。如:

I met a lot of interesting people on holiday. 我度假时碰到很多有趣的人。

We’re touring st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy on our holiday. 我们正在意大利观光度假。

We went on holiday together last summer.

去年夏天我们一起去度假了。

They met while on holiday in Greece.

他们是在希腊度假时认识的。

We rang Duncan to ask where he was going on holiday

我们打电话给邓肯,问他要去哪里度假。

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有时可见到on holidays的说法,但它主要是用来表示诸如元旦、国庆等假日。如:

Travel is very heavy here on holidays. 假日这里的交通很拥挤。

On holidays the railways put on special trains. 假日铁路增开专列。

She has gone on holiday with her husband to try to patch up their marriage

她和她丈夫一起去度假了,以期弥合他们婚姻的裂隙。

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3. 注意,three holidays的意思是“3个假期”,不是“3天假期”。表示后者可以用a holiday of three days / three days’ holiday / a three-day holiday。

常考词汇holiday用法详解和相关搭配