in the night

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

I feel once again confused by "in the night" in my text.
Does it mean we should say "at night" but "in the night"? Or does it mean there is not such strict rule that we must say 'at night'?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[5jj]

It would be helpful to have more context.

'At night' can mean 'during the period between evening and morning - regularly' - Owls hunt at night.

'In the night' can mean 'during the period between evening and morning - on one occasion' - He was very tired, so he went to bed early. He was woken in/during the night by the noise of gunfire.

[jiang]

Hi 5jj,

Thank you very much for your explanation. I think it should be the second case. The sentence is taken from a story. And it describes a particular night.

Jiang