How was your weekend?
How was your weekend?
What did you do last weekend?
Did you do anything this weekend?
Did you get up to much over the weekend?
Do you know how to respond to these questions correctly in English?
One of the most common questions that people usually ask their friends on Monday, after the weekend has just gone past is about what they did last weekend.
In this English lesson, you will learn some common questions and various responses that you can use to have a chat with your friends, peers, or colleagues about this subject in English.
It's very necessary and helpful to have a range of questions and responses in order to choose any of them as you prefer and avoid using the same one over and over.
As it's all about past events, make sure that you already understand sentences in all forms in the past simple.
And if you need to be able to talk about this subject in English more convincingly and confidently, this is for you.
Let's dive right in.
There are 4 different types of common questions and also various answers that we can use to talk about this topic:
Type 1
The questions in this type are the most common ones that native English speakers often use to ask about someone's last weekend activity:
- What did you do last weekend?
- What did you do at the weekend?
- What did you do on the weekend?
- What did you do over the weekend?
- What did you do this weekend?
- What did you get up to last weekend?
- What were you up to for the weekend?
- Where did you spend the weekend?
- Where did you go for the weekend?
- How did you spend the (your) weekend?
Notice:
At the weekend, on the weekend, over the weekend, and even this weekend refers to the previous or last weekend. So, it's optional and preferable for you to use any of them.
Here are example answers (with situations):
☆ If your weekend was uneventful, you just spent it staying home, you didn't do anything special or fun, you can say:
A: What did you do last weekend?
B: Not much. I just stayed in.
Another possible answer:
~ Not much. I just hung out at home.
You can also use the expression " Not much / Nothing much before I just stayed in, as it's not interesting.
☆ If you spent your weekend relaxing, you didn't do very much over the weekend, you could say:
A: What did you do at the weekend?
B: I just chilled out.
Other possible answers:
~ I just unwound.
(= I just took the weekend to unwind.)
~ I just wound down.
(= I just took the weekend to wind down.)
~ I just took it easy.
~ I had some downtime over the weekend.
Chill out, unwind, wind down, take it easy and have some downtime mean the same thing as described in the situation.
Look at how these words are pronounced by their phonetic symbols:
Unwind : /ʌnˈwaɪnd/
Unwound : /ˌʌnˈwaʊnd/
Wind (down) : /waɪnd/
Wound (down) : /waʊnd/
☆ If you spent your weekend relaxing or doing something you enjoy, which can help you get relaxation, refreshment, energy, or enjoyment, such as going to a spa, doing exercises, eating your favorite food, watching a good movie together with friends or family, you might say:
A: What did you get up to at the weekend?
B: I had some me-time over the weekend.
☆ If you spend your weekend having more sleep than you usually do because you had a hectic schedule during the weekdays that you could not get enough sleep. In this case, you can say:
A: What were you up to this weekend?
B: I just slept in last weekend.
Other possible answers:
~ I just caught up on some sleep last weekend.
~ I just lay in last weekend.
(= I just had a lie-in last weekend.)
Sleep in, catch up on some sleep, lie in and have a lie-in refer to the same thing.
☆ Maybe you did your work that you were unable to do earlier.
Sometimes, the weekends aren't times for some people to have fun or a rest. But they have to do something that they didn't have time to do earlier or should be turned in soon.
Again, you can still use the phrase "catch up on (with) to express it as in:
A: What did you do at the weekend?
B: I caught up with my work over the weekend.
Other possible answers:
~ I caught up on my paperwork.
(= I caught up on my administrative work/duties)
~ I caught up on my homework / assignment.
~ I caught up on my paper / essay.
~ I caught up on my thesis.
Paperwork is a job that office workers do which involves filling in forms, writing letters and reports and also keeping reports. Or you can also use "administrative work or administrative duties".
And if you are a school student or a college student, you job might be homework, schoolwork, paper (essay) or even a thesis.
Essay / paper is a short piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one done by students as part of the work for a course.
Thesis is a long piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one that is done for a higher college or university degree.
Homework is work that teachers give their students to do at home.
☆ If you met somebody especially by arrangement to have a chat or to exchange news or information last weekend, you can use the phrases "caught up with" or "met up with":
A: What did you do on the weekend?
B: I caught up with my friend.
Other possible answers:
~ I met up with my friend.
~ I met up with my old friend. Seeing him again after such a long time really made my day.
Make my day means make you feel very happy.
☆ If your weekend was eventful, you spent your weekend hanging (out)somewhere interesting for pleasure or relaxation with family or friends:
A: What did you do over the weekend?
B: I hung out with my family at the theme park.
Hung is the past simple of hang, which means to spend time with a person / some people or in a particular place.
Do not use the word hanged to express that context. The word hanged as the past simple has a different meaning.
☆ Maybe you spent your weekend visiting a water park with your kids:
A: What did you get up to at the weekend?
B: I took the kids to the water park. Seeing my kids having so much fun just made my day.
☆ When you spend the weekend going somewhere else for a holiday without telling the place where you went:
A: What did you do on the weekend?
B: I went away for the weekend.
Other possible answers:
~ I was away for the weekend.
~ I was away on holiday over the weekend.
☆ If you and your close relatives got together at your house or at your relative's house for a meal or a particular purpose, you might say:
A: What did you get up to at the weekend?
B: I had a family get-together over the weekend.
Other possible answers:
~ I had a family commitment on the weekend.
~ I had a family gathering last weekend.
~ I got together with my relatives.
☆ if you spent the weekend visiting a friend, you can say:
A: Where did you go for the weekend?
B: I went to visit my friend this weekend.
☆ If you did two different things in two different periods of time, here are some examples:
A: What were you up to this weekend?
B: I slept in all morning, and I hung out with my family in the evening.
A: What did you get up to at the weekend?
B: I went out with some friends on Saturday night, and I just chilled out on Sunday.
A: How did you spend your weekend?
B: Well, I caught up on my work on Sunday morning, and I got together with some friends on Sunday evening.
A: What did you do for the weekend?
B: I strolled in the park in the morning, and I took some rest in the afternoon.
A: What did you do on the weekend?
B: I jogged in the morning, and I chilled out in the afternoon.
A: What did you get up to this weekend?
B: I did some housework in the morning. In the afternoon, I took some rest, and I hung out at the mall with my family in the evening.
A: How did you spend the weekend?
B: It rained all day, so I was unable to do something as planned.
A: What did you do this weekend?
B: My relatives came over, and we had a family barbecue.
A: What did you do over the weekend?
B: I got my car repaired at the garage in the morning, and we went away in the afternoon.
Type 2
Common questions of this type are as follows:
- Did you do anything this weekend?
- Did you get up to anything this weekend?
These are also common questions which are often used by native English speakers to ask someone about their last weekend activities. As they're in yes or no question form, so you need to answer them with yes or no answers too, then tell what you did at the weekend, as in:
A: Did you do anything this weekend?
B: Yes, (I did.) I caught up with some friends this weekend.
A: Did you get up to anything at the weekend?
B: Yes, I went to see my relatives.
A: Did you do anything for the weekend?
B: Yes, I just slept in and did some housework.
A: Did you get up to anything on the weekend?
B: Yes, but I just wound down.
(= I just took the weekend to wind down.)
Type 3
Some other common questions classified in this type include:
- Did you have a good weekend?
- Did you have a nice weekend?
- Did you get up to much this weekend?
- Did you do anything fun this weekend?
- Did you do anything interesting this weekend?
- Did you do anything special this weekend?
These questions almost mean the same thing and used to ask if someone did anything special / eventful last weekend. And here are some ways to respond to the questions:
☆ If you didn't do anything important or special, you can say:
A: Did you do anything special over the weekend?
B: No, I just stayed in.
Some other possible answers:
~ No, I just hung out at home.
~ Not much. I just chilled out.
~ Not really. Just unwound.
~ Nothing special. I just took it easy.
~ I don't think I did anything much. I just wound down.
Note that staying at home or chilling out is not an interesting activity especially when you really want to do something fun, but you can't or don't have time. However, this can be interesting or good if it is what you need to do as you can play, have a nice talk, or watch a good movie together with your family members. So, it depends on your opinion and what you do.
☆ If you did something important, interesting, or good, you could say:
A: Did you get up to much on the weekend?
B: Yeah, I went for a movie with some friends.
Some possible answers:
~ Yes, I had some me-time over the weekend.
~ Yes, I had a get-together with some friends.
~ Yes, I did some sightseeing with family.
~ Yes, I got to catch up on some sleep.
~ Yes, I went to a football match with some friends.
Type 4
The other common questions native English speakers use to ask someone's last weekend activities in type 4 include:
- How was your weekend?
- How was your last weekend?
The questions of this type ask you to give your opinions about what you did on the weekend, so you need to use an adjective to describe it.
☆ If it is just small talk, you can tell how it was, and then thank the person for asking about your weekend:
~ It was relaxing. Thanks for asking!
~ My weekend was pretty good, Thanks!
~ Not (too) bad. Thank you for asking!
(Not bad mean quite / fairly good.)
☆ If you spent the weekend doing something fun with your family, and if it's the chance you just had to do it, use 'got to' as the past simple form of get. Spending time with people we love is a great weekend activity that's always lovely.
Possible answers:
~ My weekend was lovely. I got to spend some quality time with my family.
~ It was awesome. I took a family vacation this weekend. It was great to see the kids having so much fun.
~ It was fun (= a lot of fun). I did some sightseeing with my family in the downtown area.
~ It was interesting. I went sightseeing with my family in the downtown area.
(Sightseeing is the activity of visiting interesting places)
☆ If you had to do a lot of jobs over the weekend, the possible answers as in:
~ It was so busy. I had a lot of work to do over the weekend.
~ It was really hectic. I had to do a lot of jobs over the weekend.
~ It was very tiring (=exhausting). I had a lot of housework to do over the weekend.
☆ If you didn't do anything fun, you felt bored staying home, the possible answers include:
~ It was boring. I just stayed home.
~ It was tedious. I just hung out at home.
~ It was pretty low-key. It rained a lot, so I was unable to go out for something.
(Low-key means not interesting / exciting)
☆ If you did something that helped you feel refreshed, relaxed, or energized, the possible examples as in:
~ It was relaxing. I got to catch up on some sleep.
~ It was good. I chilled out at home.
~ It was great. I got to have some me-time.
~ It was good! I stayed in and caught up with some sleep. So, it was good to finally have some me-time.
☆ Maybe you did some housework or cleaned up the house all weekend.
Possible answers:
~ It was okay. I did some housework.
~ It was okay. I cleaned up the house.
You can use the word 'okay' to describe your weekend, as it's what you had to do, and you didn't mind doing it.
Sample chat / small talk:
A: Hey, what did you do this weekend?
B: Hi, I just chilled out for the weekend.
A: That sounds good.
B: What about you?
A: Well, I got together with some friends.
B: That's very nice.
Michelle: Hey, Anna, how was your weekend?
Anna: Not too bad. Yours?
Michelle: My weekend was so hectic. I had a lot to do at home.
Anna: Oh, but that's okay.
A: Hi, Jack. Did you get up to much at the weekend?
B: Nothing much. I just stayed in over the weekend. Did you do anything fun for the weekend?
A: Yeah, I went sightseeing over the weekend.
B: Wow, that's amazing!
Sarah: How did you spend the weekend, Jane?
Jane: I had some me-time over the weekend.
Sarah: Wow, that's lovely! (= That sounds lovely!)
Jane: How about yours?
Sarah: Something came up, so I wasn't able to do what I planned.
Jane: Oh, that's terrible.
That was it. Having more preferences about a particular subject is a lot better than having a few. Talking with someone about their last weekend activities is one of the most common topics of chat / small talk that everyone often makes after the weekend is over. If you found this lesson helpful, you can share the link with someone you think they'll need it.
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See also:
What are you doing this weekend?
