Tonight Was Once Two Words
Tonight means the night of the present day. It began as to-night, and its siblings tomorrow and today made the same journey.
Tonight means during the night of today. It was written *to-night* well into the twentieth century, and *to-day* and *to-morrow* kept their hyphens just as long. All three began as prepositional phrases — to night, to day — before English closed them up into single words.
- During tonight. *See you tonight.*
- This evening or night. *Tonight's performance.*
- Tonight as a noun. *Tonight will be cold.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adverb | tonight | Leaving tonight. |
| Noun | tonight | Tonight is busy. |
| Related | today | Today is Friday. |
| Related | tomorrow | Tomorrow morning. |
| Related | tonight's | Tonight's forecast. |
How it is used in a sentence
- We are eating out tonight.No preposition needed.
- Tonight's match is postponed.Possessive form.
- Last night is the past equivalent.Not yesterday night.
Time expressions without prepositions
- Tonight, today, tomorrow — no *on* or *at*
- Last night, next week — the same rule
- This morning — likewise
- At night — the general time takes at
- In the evening — the general time takes in
From Old English *to niht*, at night. The hyphen survived in print into the twentieth century and then quietly disappeared.
Tonight or to-night?
Tonight. The hyphen was standard in older books but is now obsolete, as it is in today and tomorrow.
Do you say *on tonight*?
No. Tonight works as an adverb by itself: see you tonight, not on tonight.