Sun Set

Question

"The sun rose over the city.""The sun set over/under the city."The second sentence is giving me trouble. The sun (usually) goes down below the horizon, so "under" seems to make perfect sense. But "over" is being used liberally in many places.

JohnParis · Accepted Answer

"The sun rose over the city." is a good sentence and makes sense from a physical standpoint.
However, I don't think I have ever heard either over or under when speaking of a sunset.
I've always heard (and used) "on."
As the sun set on Los Angeles, the stars came out in Hollywood.

SheltieBites · Answer

So,

"The sun set ON the city."
is the most correct, and

"The sun set OVER the city."
is not standard English in some places?

SheltieBites · Answer

How does the sun "set on/over the city" when it is disappearing?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

SheltieBitesHow does the sun "set on/over the city" when it is disappearing?

I use "over" in a description of a picture.(sunset is a noun)

The sun set on the city. - Here the sun looks like it is sitting on the city.
When the sun is rising, use over, because it will move up and soon be over the city.
the sun is never seen under the city, so never use under.

Sunset over a city

SheltieBites · Answer

But if I use "rise" to mean daytime is starting, and "set" to mean nighttime is approaching, which of these are standard English and how are they different from each other?

"The sun rose over the city."
"The sun rose on the city."

"The sun set on the city."
"The sun set over the city."

So "on" means barely above the horizon, and "over" means high above in the sky?

Khoff · Answer

SheltieBites"The sun set on the city."
"The sun set over the city."

I don't think either of these sound natural. When the sun rises it makes sense to express the action relative to the city, because the sun, once it has risen, is present in the sky over the city. When the sun sets it is absent from the city, and it no longer makes sense to describe its position relative to the city. Something like "the sun set behind the mountains" or "the setting sun sank into the ocean" or "The setting sun was a fiery ball on the horizon" would make more sense. You should describe where it is rather than where it isn't.

Now, if the subject of your sentence is "the sunset," rather than "the sun," I think it's different. "The sunset" refers to all the beautiful colors in the sky as the actual sun disappears below the horizon. So I think it's okay to say "Tonight's sunset over the city was beautiful."

SheltieBites · Answer

khoff SheltieBites"The sun set on the city.""The sun set over the city."I don't think either of these sound natural. When the sun rises it makes sense to express the action relative to the city, because the sun, once it has risen, is present in the sky over the city. When the sun sets it is absent from the city, and it no longer makes sense to describe its position relative to the city. Something like "the sun set behind the mountains" or "the setting sun sank into the ocean" or "The setting sun was a fiery ball on the horizon" would make more sense. You should describe where it is rather than where it isn't.Now, if the subject of your sentence is "the sunset," rather than "the sun," I think it's different. "The sunset" refers to all the beautiful colors in the sky as the actual sun disappears below the horizon. So I think it's okay to say "Tonight's sunset over the city was beautiful."

So,

"The sun rose on the town."
"The sun rose over the town."

are standard English, and

"The sun set on the town."
"The sun set over the town."

are nonstandard, but

"The sunset on the town was awesome ."
"The sunset over the town was awesome."
are okay?

SheltieBites · Answer

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/sports/othersports/10ski.html?ref=anjapaerson

"Mancuso, a 22-year-old Californian, had the second-fastest time in the downhill in the afternoon, and the fifth in the slalom, which was held under floodlights as the sun set on this brutally cold Scandinavian wilderness."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/washington/19deaver.html

"And he played a central role in planning Reagan’s funeral in 2004; the last visual was burial as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean."

What should I do?

Khoff · Answer

There are no firm rules here.  To me, "The sun set over the ocean" sounds better than "the sun set over the city,"  but maybe I'm thinking about it too literally.  Go ahead and use whatever sounds good to you -- there seem to be examples out there of all variations.

Anonymous · Answer

There is no sun "under" the city, so saying "the sun set under the city" wouldn't make any sense.
The sun sets "over" the city, because it makes the sky over the city colourful, and the sun is above the city, even if it goes under the horizon.

Hope that helps, x

Sun Set

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