At midnight VERSUS on midnight

[Ewita]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #206 "Prepositions of Time and Date (4)", question 9

......... midnight, the tradition is to sing a traditional song to ring in the New Year.

(a) On
(b) At
(c) In

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #206 "Prepositions of Time and Date (4)", answer 9

At midnight, the tradition is to sing a traditional song to ring in the New Year.

Correct answer: (b) At
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may I use "on midnight"?

Ewita

[Yankee]

Hi Ewita

The word midnight means the same thing as twelve o'clock a.m. In other words, it is a very specific time. When you talk about a clock time, you must use the preposition at.

- at twelve o'clock
- at noon/at midnight
- at 8:30 in the morning
- at four o'clock
- at 7:15

You use on to talk about a specific day or date.
- on Tuesday
- on Wednesday morning
- on December 25th
- on Christmas Day

But, weekend is special:
- at the weekend (British English)
- on the weekend (American English)

Amy
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Saneta]

I'm confused about 'to ring' in: the tradition is to sing a traditional song to ring in the New Year,- what does 'to ring' concern here?

shouldn't it be:the tradition is to sing and to ring a traditional song in the New Year??
or
the tradition is to sing a traditional song ringing/that is rung in the New Year??

Thank You

[Beeesneees]

... to ring in the New Year
is a special phrase.
It used to be customary in the UK to "ring out" the Old Year at midnight on New Year's Eve by tolling the church bells as though for a person who had died, and "ring in" the new year with a cheerful peal.
The phrase survived though the custom has diminished. The phrase grew to relate to things other than bells, especially singing, but nowadays it even relates to more secular events, such as
We're having a party to ring in the New Year.
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Cheers m' dears!