What does it refer to?

[whitemoon]

I'm confused with this sentence. I am not sure to explain it to my students. Please help me, teachers. "A container had a line with a number beside it for every hour." In this sentence, "it" refers to "a container" or "a line". I think it refers to a line, but one of my students suggested a container. He explained that "beside it for every hour" is the adverbs, and so it refers to a container. Can you explain it to me? What does it refer to? I appreciate your kind help.

 

[SoothingDave]

It refers to line. One container. Multiple lines. I am sure the rest of the context would make this clear.

 

[Tdol]

Beside is a preposition here- I don't see how your student's explanation works.

 

[whitemoon]

"beside it" is an adverb of place. He is thinking a line with a number is written beside the container. By the way, how do you say writing on the container. For example, the word "Hyundai" is written beside the container or on the side surface of the container. I think we are confused with the side of the container. Can you explain it to me, please? I appreciate your kind help.

 

[5jj]

If this line is on the surface of the container, then it is on the side of the container. If it is on the ground, the the line is next to or. less probably, beside the container.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think "it" refers to "line". There is "a line with a number beside it" drawn/written on the container. On each container, you can see:

___________________ 6

or

________________________34

or similar.

 

[Tdol]

Firstly, it's not a very good sentence. But, we know that there is only one container- the indefinite article tells us this. There are plural hours- every hour makes that clear- it does not refer to a single hour. Therefore, it is logical that there are multiple lines, each with a single number, say 1-24, that represent the hours. If there is just one line with one number, how does it represent every hour? For me, beside is a preposition that shows the location of the numbers relative to the lines. We need something plural and I agree with SoothingDave that we can interpret multiple lines, but I don't see how we can interpret multiple containers.

Beside- preposition or adverb here?
Beside - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
beside - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education
beside preposition - definition in the British English Dictionary & Thesaurus - Cambridge Dictionaries Online
Definition of beside | Collins English Dictionary
beside - definition. American English definition of beside by Macmillan Dictionary