Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[mamei]

i am not sure which preposition is first, on or at.

*we had lunch on a terrace outside at italian restaurant.
*we had lunch at the italian restaurant outside terrace

which is common??
how do i say?



Thanks,


mamei

[Schweppes]

I would write the statement like this:

We had lunch, on the terrace, at an Italian restaurant.

A terrace, by definition, is outside so it's not really necessary to say that you ate outside. Eating on the terrace implies eating outside. The first sentence is almost right but the second sentence doesn't sound right. You could say:

We had lunch at the(or an) Italian restaurant, outside, on the terrace.

I don't know if that helps. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.
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As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.--Albert Einstein