[Grammar] pants for working in

[Osya Bender]

overalls
a piece of clothing that consists of trousers/pants with an extra piece of cloth covering the chest, held up by strips of cloth over the shoulders
2. (NAmE) heavy cotton trousers/pants for working in
(OALD)

Am I right to say that:
1. in is a preposition, not an adverb
2. working in is "a gerund + a preposition" (not a gerund acting as a phrasal verb work in)
3. heavy cotton trousers/pants for working in is the same asheavy cotton trousers/pants to work in
Thank you

 

[MikeNewYork]

I would not call "in" a preposition there. Many prepositions, when they appear without an object, act as adverbs.
I would say that "working" is a gerund (noun) that is the object of the preposition "for". "In" then becomes an adverb modifying "working".

This would change if the phrase was "for working in a factory". In that case, "in" is a preposition and the prepositional phrase is adverbial.

 

[Osya Bender]

It seems that I don't understand the meaning of this phrase.
I thought that "in" meant "People work in trousers" (means "people are wearing trousers when they work)
What then does working in mean?

 

[MikeNewYork]

In "pants for working in", the meaning is that a person can wear them while they are working. They are tough and well-constructed.

 

[emsr2d2]

The "in" is the equivalent of "[while] wearing".

"They are the trousers that I work while wearing." I should point out that that makes a rather unnatural sentence and would normally be said "They are the trousers that I wear while working".

We use "in" a lot when referring to clothes:

- It was so hot yesterday, I went out in only a T-shirt and shorts.
- She was seen at work in jeans, a diamanté tiara and stilettos.
- She walked down the red carpet in a red Gucci dress.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I think you have the sense of it!

 

[Osya Bender]

- It was so hot yesterday, I went out in only a T-shirt and shorts.
- She was seen at work in jeans, a diamanté tiara and stilettos.
- She walked down the red carpet in a red Gucci dress.

I would not call "in" a preposition there. Many prepositions, when they appear without an object, act as adverbs

Do I correctly understand that in is a preposition in these three sentences, and if the original is changed like that
I like working in trousers
I never liked trousers but now I'm ready for working in them
...then in turns into a preposition but still has the same meaning as the adverb in in the original sentence?
And tell me please, do these two sentences below mean the same and is in in the latter one an adverb, too?

heavy cotton trousers/pants for working in
heavy cotton trousers/pants to work in ?

 

[MikeNewYork]

<<<I like working in trousers
I never liked trousers but now I'm ready for working in them>>>

Both prepositions.

<<<heavy cotton trousers/pants for working in
heavy cotton trousers/pants to work in ?>>>

Both adverbs.

 

[5jj]

heavy cotton trousers/pants for working in
heavy cotton trousers/pants to work in ?

Some writers would label 'in' in these two sentences as adverbs, some as particles and some as prepositions. There is no 'correct' answer; it just depends on which labelling system you prefer.