Meaning & use
northern lights
Last updated
Meaning
nounplural
Colorful bands of light that appear in the night sky in far northern regions, caused by particles from the sun hitting the atmosphere.
Grammar: Always used with 'the' and a plural verb: 'The northern lights are visible tonight.' Never say 'a northern light'.
Patterns
- the northern lights appear
- see the northern lights
- the northern lights are visible
We stayed up late hoping to see the northern lights.
The northern lights danced across the sky in shades of green and purple.
Tourists travel to Iceland in winter to watch the northern lights.
Common combinations
- see the northern lights
- If you're lucky, you can see the northern lights from northern Norway.
- the northern lights appear
- The northern lights appear most often around midnight.
- chase the northern lights
- They went to Lapland to chase the northern lights.
- a northern lights display
- Last night there was a stunning northern lights display.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aurora borealis
- The scientific and more formal name for the same phenomenon; common in news reports and textbooks.
Word family
- southern lights noun
- The same phenomenon seen in the far southern hemisphere.
Commonly confused: northern lights or aurora?
northern lights vs aurora
Aurora alone can mean either the northern or southern lights, or the Roman goddess of dawn. Use 'northern lights' for clarity.
Practice
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Choose one answer.
'The northern lights' is a plural noun phrase, so it takes a plural verb 'are'. The other options use singular verbs or drop 'the', which is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “northern lights”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.