Ukrainian_Hobbit  +  217539 Wed, 19 Apr 06 10:13 AM Should we use an article here? "We sat in the garden and stared at (the?) night." It somehow seems to me that "the" fits quite nicely, but the teacher insists on using no articles here. Should any article be used in this sentence, and why? Ukrainian_Hobbit Joined on Sun, Oct 30 2005 Irpin, Ukraine New Member 17 "Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone always has to carry on the story." J. R. R. Tolkien Articles

	paco2004  +  217554 Wed, 19 Apr 06 11:06 AM 1. "Stare" or "stare at " requires an object, i.e., something or someone. 2. "At night" is "during an arbitrary night". "At the night" is not idiomatic. (EX) We often sat in the garden at night and stared (at) each other. (EX) That night we sat in the garden and stared at the night sky. paco paco2004 Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004 Senior Member 4,095 In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English. Articles

	nona the brit  +  217578 Wed, 19 Apr 06 12:02 PM A m0ore natural version would be to say that you stared 'into' the night. But in any case, you will need 'the'. Your teacher is correct in that the phrase 'at night' meaning something happening during the night does not take 'the'. However, as Paco said, you cannot just say you stared 'during' the night. You have to be staring at something - so this sentence means that the object of your stare is the night itself. Your teacher is a bit confused between 'at' meaning time period and 'at' as something you are aiming 'at'. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,743 The name says it all. Articles