In the back row

I don't see how you can sit "in the back" of a row. Say "He was sitting in the back row" or "He was sitting at the back".

Hi GPY,

Does the back row mean the last row?

Thanks
TN

tinanam0102Does the back row mean the last row?

The "last row" (in the sense of "last" relevant here) means the final row in some defined sequence of rows. In the absence of any other information, this sequence would typically be assumed to be front to back, in which case the last row is also the back row. However, the sequence might be defined differently for

@GPY Why not "on the back row"?

vkr6078@GPY Why not "on the back row"?

In what context?

"sitting on the back row" is not impossible. However, "in" is more natural (at least to me) and a lot more common (according to Google Ngrams).

We say he sits "on sofa". Similarly, shouldn't be using he is sitting on the back row?

You sit on a couch. You sit on a sofa. You can sit in or on a chair, depending on its shape.
But you sit in a row.

English prepositions often don't make sense. Why is it that we say "in a car" but "on a bus"? Because we do. That's the only reason.

A loose rule is that if the seat surrounds or encloses you in some way, you sit in it. If it doesn't, you sit on it. However, this isn't an infallible guide, just a general one, and sometimes either may be used.
We usually sit on a stool, bench or sofa.
We usually sit in an armchair or wheelchair.
We usually sit in a row of seats, but on the end of a row of seats.

vkr6078We say he sits "on sofa". Similarly, shouldn't we be using "he is sitting on the back row"?

No. That would be sitting ON the WHOLE back row. If you had a particularly enormous derriere, you might manage it, but that's not the situation we usuall

H
i CalifJim,

If the seating chart in a theater room is like the following:

ENTRANCE
A B X X X X X X X X X X X X X X CD
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X E F
X X X X X X X X X X X