Le dimanche

Question

Doesn’t “le dimanche“ mean “on Sundays”? Why isn’t it just “dimanche” to mean on this particular Sunday?

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Re-bonjour Jasmine,
This often creates confusion because as you correctly say 'le dimanche' can be 'on Sundays' describing something you do every/most Sundays but you would not use the future tense but the present tense instead -
Le dimanche je me repose = On Sundays, I rest 
If you were talking about a particular week as in the exercise, Le dimanche would be the Sunday of that week, and you could talk about what you will do or have done in the future or the past.
But if you just said -
Dimanche, j'irai au cinéma = On Sunday, I'll go to the cinema 
you are talking about next Sunday in relation to the day you are speaking.
Hope this helps but not easy to explain. All to do with context I am afraid.

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Jasmine, 
I see what you mean, but if you are talking about a particular week as indicated by the title it means, on the Sunday of that week.
Bonne Continuation !

Jasmine Novak · Answer

Thank for the response! But, I still don't understand this. So, in this case, "Dimanche, j'irai faire une randonnée" would mean the same thing as "Le dimanche, j'irai faire une randonnée"? Then how would you say in this paragraph that you go hiking every Sunday?

Jasmine Novak · Answer

I think I get it now. The future tense and the context makes the difference. Thank you Cécile!