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Word Analysis: “last week”

Morphology: Compound adjective/adverb (“last” + “week”) functioning adverbially to indicate time. Hyphenated when used attributively (e.g., “last week’s results”) but typically used adverbially without a hyphen (“last week”).

Pronunciation

IPA: /læst wˈiːk/

Stress: Primary stress on “week“.

Meaning

An adverb meaning the seven-day period immediately preceding the current one. It refers to a completed time frame just before “this week” or “the current week”.

Grammar Notes

  • Part of Speech: Adverb (primary), but functions as an adjectival phrase when followed by a noun (“last week’s meeting”).
  • Comparability: Not comparable (cannot use “more last week” or “most last week”).
  • Position: Often starts a sentence for emphasis.

Interesting Facts

The contrast between “last week” and emotions/actions happening “this week” creates a natural framework for discussing recent changes, updates, or regrets in everyday conversation.

Learning Tips

  1. Mnemonic: Picture a week calendar closing. “Last week” is the stack of pages now turned.
  2. Link to Routines: Connect it to personal weekly routines (e.g., gym results “last week”).

Cultural/Contextual Features

Central to discussing recent events, tasks, deadlines, or news. Commonly used in work reports (“Progress achieved last week”), personal updates (“Had an interview last week”), and trend analysis.

Examples

  • Simple: “I finished the book last week.”
  • Medium: “Did you hear about the storm that hit last week?”
  • Complex: “While economic indicators were positive last week, reports from emerging markets suggest challenges persist.”

Lexical Companions

  • Similar:Previous week
  • Opposite:Next week, Coming week, This week
  • Common Collocations:
    • “Last week’s news”
    • “Happen last week”
    • “Remember last week”
    • “Fall last week (in September – harvest time)

Mini-Tasks

  1. Make a Sentence: Write a sentence using “last week” to describe something you did.
  2. Find the Antonym: What would be the opposite of “last week” in a scheduling context?
  3. Collocation Match: Match the phrase fragment: “__________” (a) “Coming week’s holidays” (b) “Plans for next week” (c) “Discussion about last week” (Correct: c)

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