The light is on in the dining room.

[amiable25]

Hello, I have a question.

The light is on in the dining room. Is this sentence correct? I think it should be "The light in the dining room is on", because of the definite artcle "the (light)". I guess "in the dining room" modifies "the light" ( so it is not "a light") and it should be right behind it, but I don't know why it has moved to the end of the sentence. Thank you.

 

[jutfrank]

You can look at the difference like this:

1) The light in the dining room is on.
1a) The dining room light is on.

Each of the bold parts is the sentence subject. The respective modifiers in the dining room (1) and dining room (1a) tell us which light is on.


2) The light is on in the dining room.

The bold part here is a sentence adjunct, telling us where the light is on.

 

[Rover_KE]

[STRIKE]Hello, I have a question.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Just go ahead and ask your question.

 

[Tdol]

The light in the dining room is on is also correct.