at night or in the night

Question

Dear teachersOf the following sentences1.The later it gets at night, the colder it gets here. The later it gets in the night, the colder it gets here. and2.The later it is at night, the colder it is here.The later it is in the night, the colder it is here.Are both version of these sentences grammatical, equally  idiomatic and mean the (exact) same?Also, if we put "in" before "here" in all of above , how would that change the meaning of the sentences , for example: "The later it gets at night, the colder it gets in here. " ?Thanks in advance!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

DibAre both version of these sentences grammatical,

Yes.

Dib equally idiomatic

No; only 'at night' is so.

Dibmean the (exact) same?

Yes.

DibAlso, if we put "in" before "here" in all of above , how would that change the meaning of the sentence

It indicates that the speaker is within some sort of enclosure.

Dib · Answer

Thank you sir!

Can you also please also check if the following are idiomatic(and correct):

Black widow spiders are active during the nighttime.

Black widow spiders are active in the nighttime.

Black widow spiders are active at nighttime.

Black widow spiders are active at night.

Black widow spiders are active during the night.

Thanks in advance!

Mister Micawber · Answer

They are all correct. #4 is idiomatic.

Dib · Answer

Thank you again! Am I also correct to think that

1.During the night and in the night have the same meaning but During the night is more idiomatic?

2. When talking about distant past "During the night" is more idiomatic than even "at night" for example, "Five years ago my neighbors pet dog woke me up during the night."? and NOT "at night"?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Dib1.During the night and in the night have the same meaning but During the night is more idiomatic?

You don't seem to be reading my posts very carefully. I repeat: #4 is idiomatic. The others are perfectly correct, but are not used as frequently as #4.

Dib2. When talking about distant past "During the night" is more idiomatic than even "at night" for example,

You are quite mistaken. Time is irrelevant.

Dib · Answer

I got confused because I read :

You can say "in the night" (meaning "during the night"), I think more usually referring to the past: Did you hear that dog barking in the night? At other times, you use "at" for a 'specific' time (at midday; at 3 o'clock; at sunrise), and "in" for a period of time.

There is an element of idiomatic nuance at play here. "I always brush my teeth at night," describes a mundane event that takes place every evening. "Someone stole my new orchid in the night," has an appropriate and slightly sinister connotation and suggest the event took place during a specific night, the night. Contrast the previous theft with the following, "Police report that car thefts are on the rise, particularly at night." It describes an on-going nocturnal event.

Source: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/121858/at-night-or-in-the-nigh

And

Note: We say at night when we are talking about all of the night:
When there is no moon it is very dark at night.
He sleeps during the day and works at night.
but we say in the night when we are talking about a short time during the night:
He woke up twice in the night.
I heard a funny noise in the night.

source: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adverbials/adverbials-time/time-and-dates

And

Yes, absolutely. In fact, I think during the night would be more commonly said.
"My relatives arrived sometime during the night. I was sound asleep so I´m not sure what time they got here."

American - "during the night" - most common as jacinta says.
British - "in the night" - I THINK.
Saludos desde Mazatlán

Thanks for the clarification.
I would say that we use "during the night" and "in the night" (which is much less common, as Jacinta mentioned) in the same way as you do in the US.
Saludos.

Source : http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=200850

And to make things even more confusing:

'At night' means simply 'during the night', whereas 'in the night' has the rather more specific meaning of 'in the middle of the night', and thus tends to be limited to more poetic or graphic contexts than its simpler equivalent. Thus, we might have e.g.

I heard an owl hooting in the night.

(meaning 'at some point in the middle of the night')

but we would not say

?He works in the night.

to mean that his work occurs during the night hours.

source: http://www.englishclub.com/esl-forums/viewtopic.php?t=27211

Also, my point number 1 in the last post was a new question and was not related to the spider examples in the post before it.

Please bare with me, I am pretty dumb at learning new languages and have a tendency to get confused pretty fast

Mister Micawber · Answer

DibPlease bare with me

Do you mean—take off our clothes together?!

Dib, I am pretty dumb at learning new languages and have a tendency to get confused pretty fast

Learning a language is not easy, especially when the lessons are unstructured and taken in fragments from all over the internet.

I am not about to run through all of the points that you have archived there, but I can generally say this: most of them seem accurate (for instance 'all night' vs 'a short time during the night') in their context, but they do not refer to what we have been discussing here.

Dib · Answer

Sorry, I meant "bear with me".

I did my research on this thoroughly, only posted the fragments that are confusing me.

at night or in the night

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