Hi,
The heavy snow that fell last night has blocked roads in Wrexham.
Can I say “The heavy snow of last night …” as well?
Thanks again.
By the way, is it fine to say “The last night heavy snow …” as well?
That would most naturally be
Last night’s heavy snow has…
The heavy snow of last night… is correct but sounds laboured and awkward by comparison.
The last night heavy snow… is incorrect. 'The heavy snow last night… ’ is possible, but would usually require the current time reference too:
The heavy snow last night has blocked roads in Wrexham this morning.
Ciao Bev, grazie mille. 
Hi Bee
How about : Last night, The heavy snow…
In that case the action of road blocking also has to refer wholly to last night:
Last night, the heavy snow blocked roads in Wrexham.
The heavy snow that fell last night has blocked roads in Wrexham.
-> Bee, you mean It indicates the snow fell many nights before, and the heavy snow last night blocked roads in Wrexham
Last night, the heavy snow blocked roads in Wrexham.
-> It indicates one heavy snow last night blocked the roads (it does not indicate many nights before having snow)
is it what you mean ?
No, snow did not necessarily fall before last night. There is no indication regarding whether snow has been falling prior to last night.
Snow may have fallen before last night. There is no indication regarding whether snow has been falling prior to last night.
As you can see, it isn’t what I meant.
In the first sentence, heavy snow fell. It blocked the roads. The roads are still blocked.
In the second sentence, heavy snow fell. It blocked the roads. The roads may or may not still be blocked.
It’s just simple and I do not get it.
Just a difference between present perfect and past simple tense in the meaning.
(“In that case the action of road blocking also has to refer wholly to last night” - the question started because I do not get this sentence.)
Now I understand, Last night, … -> time marker, We used the simple past and it changed the meaning.
Thank you Bee
As always, you’re welcome.
This is going round the houses a bit, isn’t it? Let’s say -
Last night’s heavy snowfall (has)blocked the road to Timbuktu. Take your pick.
Alan you got me.
Without the time marker “last night” , I think both are possible
is it correct, teacher ?
Yes, they are both possible.
Thank you, Alan.
Therefore, Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked the road to Timbuktu, BUT, Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked the road[u]s to [u]in Timbuktu. Is it so?
Yep.
I’m not sure what you mean by using ‘but’ in your statement, Francis, so I’m sorry in advance if this doesn’t answer your query.
All possible:
Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked the road to Timbuktu.
Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked the roads to Timbuktu.
Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked roads to Timbuktu.
Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked roads in Timbuktu.
Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked all the (major) roads in Timbuktu.
Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked the (major) roads in Timbuktu.
I presume the ‘but’ refers to the absence of the article ‘the’ before ‘roads’ although agreed there doesn’t need to be a ‘but’ as far as the tenses are concerned.
Hi Bev and Alan,
I thought that were possible just the following sentences: “Last night’s heavy snowfall (has) blocked the road to Timbuktu”, and “… (has) blocked roads in Timbuktu”. That was the sense of my “but”. By the way, I wanted to write better my question, but I wasn’t able to do it because I had some problems with my connection to the Internet.
Thanks for your help. See you soon!
PS: Understanding when you have to use “on” or “to”, or both are fine, in a case like that, it’s pretty difficult, I must say!
Do you mean 'in and ‘to’?
In this case, it depends on which road(s) you are speaking about.
to a place - the road leading to that town from a different place, etc.
in a place - the roads within and around that town from elsewhere in the same town, etc.