'sit in' vs 'sit on' a seat

[englishstudent]

Hi,

This is a sentence from a book.
"there were seats in buses which black people couldn't sit in."

1. When do you use "sit in" vs "sit on"
2. Is it correct to end the sentence this way, or
is it better to say - "there were seats in buses in which black
people could not sit"

Thanks

[Tdol]

I'd use 'on' there. We use 'in' for armchairs and similar seats, and 'on' for chairs that don't surround the person, but they can blur a bit.

[Casiopea]

1. When do you use "sit in" vs "sit on"

Additionally, for North American English "in" or "on" works. Bus seats -even though they do not have arm rests, still encompass or cup the person. "in" is short for inside. The bus seat, or rather bench, forms a small alcove-like area, one you get "inside" of.

2. Is it correct to end the sentence this way, or
is it better to say - "there were seats in buses in which black
people could not sit"

Either way works. To sit in and to sit on are pretty much set pairs. Traditionally, though, "in which" would have been more acceptable; there was this rule, "never end a sentence in a preposition". So, if some speakers today subscribe to traditional ways, they might use "in which", and they might not. Ending our example sentence in sit in or sit on is acceptable, not to mention less cumbersome than "in buses in which".

[englishstudent]

Thanks tdol and casiopea for answering my questions.

Reminds me of an old joke -
A new student walks onto the campus and asks
a professor - "Excuse me, where is the library at?"
The professor says, "Young man, we don't end our
sentences in prepositions!"
The young guy says, "OK. Where's the library at, a****** ?"

[Casiopea]

You're welcome.

Cute joke.