Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

Hello everyone.

Which, #1, #2, or #3, is grammatically correct?

A dazzled, cheering audience danced on their chairs ( ) the winter cold Friday night, and the opening ceremony of the winter Games became one giant house party.
1. in
2. at
3. on

Best regards,
Fw

[Philo Kevetch]

in... the cold

at.... the opening ceremony

on.... Friday night

Do you have access to a "usage" reference (ie. Michael Swans' "Grammar In Use") ? Try to find one; it will help you in using the grammar rules you have studied.

[fw]

Thank you, Philo Kevetch, for your comment.

But what was your answer to my question?

Which, #1, #2, or #3, is grammatically correct?
A dazzled, cheering audience danced on their chairs ( ) the winter cold Friday night, and the opening ceremony of the winter Games became one giant house party.
1. in
2. at
3. on

fw

[gulius]

What Philo said would be more grammatically correct. I would have rewritten that article (i'm guessing this comes from a news article from a paper or the net), but as your sentence stands I think (3) works best.

I want to say (1) in the winter cold Friday night, but since it would be in the past at the time the reporter was writting the article, I think (3) would be best, although niether really sound that right.

[KazAV]

It is ON the cold Friday night. We use on with names of days, eg. on Friday, on Thursday afternoon, on Monday morning, etc.

[Jintii]

I would definitely say IN.

Why? Because the phrase is IN the cold.

Friday night is a "red herring" (false path) here. The rule with days of the week isn't that you always have to use ON. It's to use ON if you use a preposition at all -- the preposition is often optional. In this sentence, it's left out, and that's fine. The only preposition that is required is IN, in the phrase IN the cold.

If you wanted to use the optional preposition, too, you could do so:

... danced on their chairs IN the winter cold ON Friday night....

But the first preposition goes with the prepositional phrase IN THE WINTER COLD; the second (optional) preposition goes with the phrase FRIDAY NIGHT.

[Meadowlark]

I'm with Jintii all the way on this one!

[Philo Kevetch]

Sorry if I confused you FW.

I wasn't suggesting that you use all 3 in the example you provided.

I used all 3 to show you why IN was the correct choice.

Jintiis' explanation should clear up any problem I may have caused you.

[KazAV]

This illustrates the differences between American and British English. What you have stated (in the winter cold Friday night) is absolutely fine in American English but, if we were to read that phrase in British English with the preposition "in", it would not make sense. Either all the prepositions would have to be included (in the winter cold on Friday night), as you have correctly stated, or the phrase "the winter cold Friday night" would be seen as an adjectival phrase and therefore the preposition "on" would be correct.

In American English, it is fine not to use the preposition with the day but in British English, a preposition is always used (always in the written form but occasionally left out in very informal speech). That is why I say "on" is correct but why you say "in" is correct.

[Jintii]

It's always good to see the differences between varieties of English!

[KazAV]

Totally agree with you! Think it`s very important too to be able to distinguish between them.

[fw]

[KazAV]

Yes, you are right.