1. The origin of "at night" to indicate a point of time and the usage of prepositions "in" and"at" In olden times, when the time expression "at night" was originated, night might have been thought as a point of time in the day because there wasn't any activity going on and people were sleeping that time unlike daytime.
The expression by night is typically used to contrast someone's nighttime activities to their daytime activities, especially when the nighttime activities are unusual or unexpected.
Do you think '2 o'clock in the morning' might somehow actually mean '2 o'clock in the afternoon', as that's the only alternative? I suppose I can see your point if someone says '11 o'clock at night' for 11pm, but again, unless you're above the arctic circle, the distinction with '11 o'clock in the morning', or any normal representation of 11am, is surely clear.
I forgot where but I saw the word "night-time" written like "nighttime". Now is that correct or accepted? Can it be written as a single word? I am specifically concerned about British usage. I did
I am trying to find out which is correct in "Good night" vs "goodnight" (vs "good-night"), and there seem to be conflicting views around the internet. I am hoping you guys can shed some light into ...
The spoken use of "night" as an informal, familiar version of "good night" (wishing one a restful sleep) is common, but I'm not sure what the proper written equivalent is - if there is one.
Similar to day and night, except it implies an improvement of the situation rather than a deterioration. So my question: Is the usage of ‘night and day” in the meaning of “completely different” popular, or still on the sideline? Because I don’t find it in any of Cambridge / Oxford / Merriam –Webster English Dictinoary.
“Good night” or “good evening”? I am in the process of creating a software application which displays a greeting to users based on the time of day. I have come to a blank on what to display to the user when it is late at night. 'Good night, [user's name]' just doesn't seem right. So, what is an appropriate greeting to use at night time?
It was a bright frosty morning. The whole composition before him, when he stood where he had stood last night, was clearly discernible. Is it possible for last night to mean the previous night in indirect speech (as opposed to the past one)? Secondly, is this a general deictic use of the adjective last in indirect clauses?
