on holiday 還是on holidays
到底是 on holiday 還是on holidays？其中的 holiday 到底該用單數(shù)還得復(fù)數(shù)？
_________ the railways put on special trains.
A. In holiday B. On holiday C. In holidays D. On holidays
現(xiàn)分析如下：
大家知道，on holiday是習(xí)語，意為“在休假”，該短語通常用介詞 on 而不用 in，且其中的holiday 通常不用復(fù)數(shù)，且其中也不用冠詞，但有時可用物主代詞 (此時可用復(fù)數(shù)，即 on one's holidays)。基于此認(rèn)識，許多同學(xué)便選了B。
其實此題最佳答案為D，on holiday 和 on holidays 均可用說，只是含義不同：
1. 短語 on holiday，可用作表語或狀語，其中通常不用冠詞，但有時可用物主代詞。如：
I'll be on holiday next month. 我下個月全月休假。
The typist is away on holiday this week. 打字員本周休假。
I met a lot of interesting people on holiday. 我度假時碰到很多有趣的人。
We're touring Italy on our holiday. 我們正在意大利觀光度假。
They are on their holiday in Paris. 他們在巴黎度假。
It's costing me a small fortune to send children on holiday. 送孩子們度假花了我一大筆錢。
Where to go on holiday is always a bone of contention in our family. 到哪去度假總是引起家里的爭執(zhí)。
We are short of funds at the moment, so we are not going on holiday. 眼下我們?nèi)卞X，所以不去度假了。
We couldn't decide where to go on holiday so we just picked a place out of a hat. 我們定不下來到哪兒去度假，就隨便選了個地方。
We're going on holiday with Mary and Daniel Sinclair. 我們要去與瑪麗和丹尼爾??辛克萊一起度假。
It's rather tough on him falling ill just as he's about to go on holiday. 他正要去度假卻生病了，真倒霉。
'Queen Mother goes on Holiday' is hardly headline news! “王太后外出度假”可算不上什么頭條新聞！
If you save some money each week, we can go on holiday. 要是你每星期能存點兒錢，咱們就可以外出度假了。
We always seem to take everything but the kitchen sink when we go on holiday. 我們度假時好像總把一切能帶的東西都帶著。
They always take everything but the kitchen sink when they go on holiday. 外出度假時，他們除了廚房水槽，把什么都帶上了。
Our team dropped behind in the league matches when a third of the players went on holiday. 我們的隊伍由于三分之一的隊員在度假而在聯(lián)賽中落后了。
2. 短語 on holidays，主要是用來表示諸如元旦、國慶等假日。如：
Travel is very heavy here on holidays. 假日這里的交通很擁擠。
On holidays the railways put on special trains. 假日鐵路增開專列。