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Palinkasocsi Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

in/on the balcony

0Do you agree that02br
02br
01b00in02b00 the balcony - refers only to a balcony of 01b00a theatre02b02br
02br
01b00on02b00 the balcony - refers only to a balcony of 01b00a house02b00?02br
02br
00Thank you in advance.0-
  

Top answer

0Hi Palinkasocsi,02br 02br 00I never thought about this before, but it makes sense. Our seats are up in the second balcony. )0-

— BarbaraPA

  • 0Hi Palinkasocsi,02br 02br 00I never thought about this before, but it makes sense.
  • Our seats are up in the second balcony.
  • )0-
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13 Answers
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0Hi Palinkasocsi,02br
02br
00I never thought about this before, but it makes sense. Our seats are up in the second balcony. She is standing on the balcony.02br
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00(Not just a house, but a hotel, office building, etc.)0-
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0Thanks for bringing this up. I have a similar question. I wonder if we should use 'in' or 'on'. Maybe as you've pointed out, it depends on the type of balcony.0-
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0I agree. There may be buildings other than domiciles, where balconies don't have "fixed" seating, where one may be standing "on" the balcony.0-
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0So you think the use of in/on is a matter of "fixed seating" rather than 01b00the location02b00 itself: house, office, etc. vs. theatre. Am I right?0-
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0I would use "in" for the sense of balcony that relates to a 01i00theater02i00.02br
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00I woudl use "on" for the sense of balcony that relates to an architectural element. 0-
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0I agree with GG. The seating is irrelevant.0-
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0I think I'm about to yield on this. I can't think of a place other than a theater or opera house which has fixed seating on/in the balcony. Sports arenas refer to the balcony as the second deck, or upper deck. The second balcony would be the third deck.02br
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00My humble apologies. - A.02br
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00Edit. Oh dang, I just proved my original point.
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0 Hi,02br
00Could it be possible that people use 'in' to mean 01i00being contained / surrounded by guard-rail / hand-rail02i00, and 'on' to relate to 01i00a surface02i00?02br
00Results of my google-search do not seem to support any distinctions between the two prepositions regarding 01i00specific locations02i
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0Those examples all seem quite strange to me - I'd use 'on' in those contexts.02br
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00However, googling up the first example about the grandfather's house shows that this is a quote from a 5 year old Pakistani girl in a news story. Not a source I'd site for grammar advice?02br
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00Likewise, the 2nd example is a quote from a Nigerian man. It may just
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I think 'is' is used as the balcony in a theatre is just one part of the seating area, I am seated in the balcony, I am seated in the stalls. Balconies on houses are outside of the house so we wouldn't use 'in' as it is outside.
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