all week? all the week?

lucky   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 01:48 GMT
Quote : You do not say 'the' when you use all + a period time.
ex) all day/morning/week/year/summer - correct
all the day/morning/week/year/summer - wrong

-cambridge learner's dictionary



Is this always true ?
Does 'all week' have the same meaning as 'all this week'?
Doesn't 'all the week' have its own meaning or usage?
Bob   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 02:08 GMT
>> Does 'all week' have the same meaning as 'all this week'?

Not necessarily. "All this week" pertains to the week at present, but an advertisement might read, "April 4 - April 10 -- Happy Hour all week!" which obviously announces an event that will take place several weeks from now.

I've never heard of "all the week."
lucky   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 02:23 GMT
Why is it not possible to say 'all the week' to imply 'all this week'?
Can't we naturally assume 'the week' refers to 'this week'?

Articles confuse English learners.
Travis   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 02:30 GMT
Remember that when you're using "the" here, you're just specifying that the week in question has already been specified, or can be suitably inferred by the people listening, and thus has been already specified for all practical purposes, or you're saying that you're referring to some specific thing, even if it has not been already specified, as opposed to any given thing of a particular kind. Hence, it cannot be considered to be equivalent to "this", as in the context of "this week", it generally means the /current/ week specifically, unless one is already referring to some week other than the current week using "this".
lucky   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 02:44 GMT
Okay, then what do you think about 'In the nineties', which is to say 'In 1990' by using 'the'
Bob   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 02:57 GMT
"In the nineties" is not the same as "In 1990". The former refers to an unspecified time within that decade and is used as a collective noun, hence the use of the definite article. The latter refers to something that took place that specific year and doesn't require the definite article.
lucky   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 03:06 GMT
I should've written 'In 1990s'
Does it change nothing?
Is 'In 1990s' wrong expression?
Bob   Sunday, March 20, 2005, 03:11 GMT
In that case, it should be "In the 1990s".