We arrived (at/in) our village (on/in/at) a lovely night in October.
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What specific issues are you having? What do you think is right, or why are you unsure?– SarahMay 31, 2016 at 15:58
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I don't know much about using preposition. In some case, I think I can use all of the choices in the question, but I must chose one choice to be my answer like this case.– Nguyễn Quốc ViệtMay 31, 2016 at 16:02
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2You have two questions here really - these two other questions may help: Should I say “She is in the park” or “She is at the park”? and Rules for “on”, “at”, and “in”: preposition of time– ColleenVMay 31, 2016 at 16:34
2 Answers
The most common form would be We arrived at our village on a lovely night in October, but there's nothing inherently "incorrect" about using in for the first one.
For the second preposition, we usually use on in respect of days or nights (He'll come on Tuesday, We work on alternate nights). We tend to use in (or during) if the word day or night primarily means "daytime" as opposed to "nighttime" (or vice-versa) - but in that case we'd use the definite article, and it would be odd to include a modifier like lovely (We arrived in / during the night of October 12th).
You can also say We arrived at night (i.e. - at nighttime), but not ...at a night.
Your question is not an easy one to answer as English prepositions are tricky and difficult to distinguish.
Here are some rules of thumb.
Arrive can take both "at" and "in". The main difference is whether your designation is a specific and rather small place such as village or airport. You use "at" in such cases. You use "in" for big places such as city or country. But it is not wrong to use "at" before a city. There are some grey areas. But "arrive in London" is far more broadly used than "arrive at London".
At night and in the night are used to mean during the night. However, you have to use "on a lovely night" when you have an adjective or attributive noun before night. For example, "on Tuesday night" instead of "at / in Tuesday night".
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@NguyễnQuốcViệt You are welcome. Next time you ask a question, please include what you understand and what you don't understand with your own research included in your question. Your question as it is, it is not an ideal question.– user24743Jun 1, 2016 at 16:13