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When is it necessary or preferable to use 'in the' before a time period? Is one sentence more formal? Does the length of time matter?

Example 1: He was born last century. Example 1a: He was born in the last century.

Example 2: He was born last week. Example 2b: He was born in the last week.

Example 3: His birth was last century. Example 3a: His birth was in the last century.

Example 4: He was born middle of the night. Example 4a: He was born in the middle of the night.

To me, examples 1 and 3 sound better with 'in the', but I don't know why.

FumbleFingers
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Jenbri
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1 Answers1

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Example 1:

The first variation means that the subject of the sentence was born in the last calendar century. That is - when said in any year in the 21st century, the subject was born in the 20th. When said in the 20th, the subject was born in the 19th. The second variation however, means the subject was born in the last 100 years. An example to emphasize the difference: The year is 2020. a. John was born last century - he was born in the 20th century. b. John was born in the last century - he was born in 1920-2020, not necessarily in the 20th century.

Example 2:

Same as example 1, but with weeks. Today is Wednesday. a. John was born last week - he was born somewhere between last week's Monday and its following Sunday. b. John was born in the last week - he was born somewhere between last Wednesday and yesterday(or last Thursday and today, depending how you interpret it).

Example 3:

Same as example 1, but now the subject is the birth and when it happened, not John.

Example 4:

The first variation isn't correct, the second variation is the only correct one here

StrangeSorcerer
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  • When you say object, does it mean the sentence subject? Also, would you be able to cite any evidence for your well-explained opinions? – Yosef Baskin Nov 03 '20 at 16:53
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    About subject/object - yes, lost concentration for a second and mistyped :) – StrangeSorcerer Nov 03 '20 at 16:58
  • About the second part - I currently don't have any evidence to cite, except my teachers throughout elementary and high school. This is the way I understand these usages, and what most people I talk with use as well. – StrangeSorcerer Nov 03 '20 at 17:00