during the night与in the night的区别　　

有朋友在本站“答疑中心”询问 during the night 与 in the night 的用法区别。问题见：　　

www.hxen.com/guestbook/Guest_Reply.asp?TopicID=1772 　　

该问题由本站特约作者及专家顾问陈根花老师回答如下：　　

■in the night 和 during the night的基本用法说明　　

in the night 和 during the night 均表示“夜间”“夜里”，指在夜间或夜里某个时间发生的某件事情，两者常可换用。如：　　

Burglars got into the office in the night (during the night). 窃贼夜里闯入了办公室。　　

The car windscreen frosted over in the night (during the night). 汽车的挡风玻璃在夜间结了霜。　　

Stephen checked on her several times in the night (during the night). 斯蒂芬夜里起来看了她好几遍。　　

The tyres on his car had been let down in the night (during the night). 晚上有人把他的汽车轮胎放了气。　　

The rain on the roads had changed to ice in the night (during the night). 路上积的雨水在夜间结成了冰。　　

I woke up in the night (during the night) in a cold sweat worrying about the exam. 半夜里我惊醒过来，为考试的事急得直冒冷汗。　　

《柯林斯高级英语用法词典》对于两者的区别是这样说的：It is more common to use “in” in sentences like these. If you use “during”, you are usually emphasizing that you are not sure of the exact time when something happened.（在类似的句子里，in 用得普遍一些。如果用 during，一般是强调对事情发生的准确时间没有把握。）　　

■关于 in the night 和 during the night 表示时间点与时间段　　

in the night 和 during the night 主要表示“时间点”（见上面的例子），很少表示“时间段”。但尽管很少表示“时间段”，仍然可找到这样的例子。如：　　

They work during the night and sleep by day. 他们夜间工作，白天睡觉。——摘自《剑桥高级英语词典》　　

People sleep in the night and work in the day. 人们在夜里睡觉，在白天工作。——摘自《新时代英语惯用法词典》　　

■有关in the night 和 during the night的一点用法补充　　

1. in the night 和 during the night均主要用于特指，即特指某个晚上的“夜里”——可能是“昨天夜里”，也可能是“过去某一天的夜里”，有时甚至可能是“将来某一天的夜里”。如：　　

I’m exhausted. The baby woke up three times in the night. 我累坏了。孩子昨天夜里醒了三次。——摘自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》　　

注：根据 I’m exhausted 用的一般现在时可知，后面的 in the night 是指昨天夜里。　　

It rained all Monday but stopped raining during the night. 星期一整天都在下雨，但夜里雨停了。——摘自《牛津实用英语语法》　　

注：during the night 指过去特定某一天（即星期一）的夜里。　　

There had been reports that a motorized division had crossed the border during the night. 有消息说，机动师头天夜里已越过边界线。——摘自《柯林斯高级英语用法词典》　　

注：during the night 指过去特定某一天的夜里。　　

During the night you’ll no doubt be enjoying the carnival atmosphere. 在晚上你毫无疑问会感受到狂欢节的气氛。——摘自《柯林斯高级英语用法词典》　　

注：during the night 指将来某一天的（也可能就是今天的）夜里。　　

2. 但有时也可见到 in the night 和 during the night 用于非特指的情况（比较少见）。如：　　

I always slept by the phone in case he rang during the night. 我总是睡在电话机旁边，惟恐他夜间打电话来。——摘自《牛津实用英语语法》　　

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. 地震就像夜间的小偷，不打招呼就来了。——摘自《新概念英语》（第四册）　　

■关于in night　　

英语可以说 at night, by night, before night 等，但习惯上不说 in night。如：　　

Tigers are active mainly at night. 老虎主要在夜间活动。　　

He works in an office by day and drives a taxi by night. 他白天在办公室工作，晚上开计程车。　　

Dusk is the time before night when it is not yet dark. 黄昏就是指夜幕来临之前天还没黑的那段时间。