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I have a sentence:

Happiness is drinking a glass of champagne on a hot summer afternoon.

So I'm thinking if we want to say the same about night do we have at night or on [article] night?

I know we say in (the afternoon / the evening / the night) when we mean 'during this period of time'. Correct?

But what is the difference between on and at? Could we use articles with on\at and night?

Daria Pydorenko
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  • At night means 'during the hours of darkness', but if you describe the night (in this case, probably meaning evening), you need on. The folk song 'The Lincolnshire Poacher' has the line 'It's my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year." (I assume shiny means moonlit.) – Kate Bunting Jun 03 '21 at 12:19
  • @Astralbee Thanks, it almost answers but I don't see there a lot about on preposition (like in my example sentence). Could we use on with night? Why do we use on with afternoon but not at? – Daria Pydorenko Jun 03 '21 at 12:37
  • @DariaPydorenko We don't - we'd normally say "in the afternoon". The accepted answer I linked you to says this. – Astralbee Jun 03 '21 at 12:50
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    @Astralbee In the afternoon, but on a fine afternoon or on a moonlit night. – Kate Bunting Jun 03 '21 at 12:53
  • @KateBunting thanks! Does it works like that: I usually sleep in the evening / I usually sleep on a rainy evening. (are articles correct too?) – Daria Pydorenko Jun 03 '21 at 16:11
  • Yes, those are correct. – Kate Bunting Jun 03 '21 at 16:13

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So, I've investigated my question. As I understand it works like that:

I could do it in the morning

I could do it tomorrow morning.

I could do it in a morning. (about any morning, not commonly used)

I could do it in the mornings. (about every morning)

I could do it on a lovely morning. ('on' because of an adjective)

And with 'night':

I could do it at night.

I could do it on a lovely night. ('on' because of an adjective)

I could do it if I awake in the night. (something poetic, about this night)

Good examples here: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-time

Please, correct me if I understand something wrong.

Daria Pydorenko
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