Hi natives:

Do the following sentences mean the same? And are they all correct and do they all sound natural?
Let’s assume the speaker has been learning the piano for a year, and her piano lessons are on Saturday nights.
Here, she just wants to say she is going to the piano class this Saturday night. So, which sentence is correct and natural? I
think 2, 3 and 5 are correct. Am I right?
Does 1 mean that she is going to start learning the piano this Saturday night?

1. I am going to learn the piano on Saturday night.
2. I am learning the piano on Saturday night.
3. I am going to attend a piano class on Saturday night.
4. I am having a piano class on Saturday night.
5. I am going to a piano class on Saturday night.

Answers

Plinkage

24 Oct 2019

English (US)

@chen117
1. this sentence makes it sound like shes going to learn all of the piano in one night.
2. "im learning piano on Saturday night." sounds fine without "the"
although "studying" sounds more correct to me instead of "learning".
3. this one sounds perfectly fine.
4. this makes it sound like shes the one teaching the piano class.
5. this also sounds fine to me.

so 3, and 5 both sound perfect to me. 2 sounds ok and i would understand it, but it doesent quite sound as smooth as 3 and 5.

i hope that wasnt confusing.

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chen117

24 Oct 2019

Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

@Plinkage Thank you so much for the detailed explanation and it helps a lot. Sorry I have two more questions to ask. I remember we say I play the piano, so don’t we say I learn the piano instead of I learn piano? You mentioned you would use studying piano instead of learning piano, but isn’t studying used for a subject, like studying English, studying history, studying math and so on? 🤔

Plinkage

24 Oct 2019

English (US)

@chen117
hm. i think the main difference between learning and studying is that when you study something its the act of learning. where if youre just learning it doesent mean youre studying.
"i learned english because i grew up speaking it."
"im studying japanese because i want to learn it."
learn i think is more of a goal where study is more of an action. but both are definately contextual.

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chen117

24 Oct 2019

Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

@Plinkage I see. Thank you very much. How about “the” in studying the piano? We say play the piano but can’t we say study the piano?

Plinkage

24 Oct 2019

English (US)

@chen117 yes. it sounds ok. but it so happens i just started learning piano this year. so i thought, if i told my friends "im learning the piano" to me it sounds like im specifying a particular type of piano like keyboard or electric, etc. but saying "im learning piano" to me sounds like im learning how to play any keyboard/piano with the same format. it doesent really matter much, especially when speaking. but its just not quite right sounding when written to me.

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chen117

24 Oct 2019

Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

@Plinkage I see. Thank you very much. By the way, which one would you say to your friend? I am learning piano on Saturday night or I am studying piano on Saturday night?