ESEN
Which one to use?Beginnernounnoun
NightvsKnight
'Night' is the period of darkness; 'knight' is a medieval armoured warrior or a chess piece.
Side-by-side comparison
Night
noun"Night" is the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise. "Good night" = a farewell greeting in the evening. "Night shift" = a work shift during the nighttime hours.
We worked through the night to meet the deadline.
The city looks beautiful at night when all the lights come on.
She stayed up all night studying for the certification exam.
Knight
noun"Knight" is the armoured medieval warrior of noble rank. Also the chess piece that moves in an L-shape. In the UK, the honorary title "Sir". The 'k' is silent.
The knight wore heavy armour and rode into battle on horseback.
In chess, the knight is the only piece that can jump over others.
Sir Paul McCartney was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth in 1997.
Common mistake
- •The silent K in "knight" trips up many learners: the armoured warrior and the chess piece both start with a silent K.
- •"Night" without K is simply the dark part of the day.
Trick to remember it
"Knight" belongs to the silent-KN family: know, kneel, knock, knife, knob, knit, the K was pronounced in Old English but silenced over centuries while spelling stayed fixed.
Quick rule
- •Is it the darkness of the night? "Night".
- •Is it the armoured warrior or the chess piece? "Knight".
Did you know?
In chess, the KNIGHT piece is the only one that can "jump" over other pieces, it moves in an L-shape. In virtually every language in the world, this piece is called "horse" or "rider" (cheval in French, Springer in German, конь in Russian), but in English it is called KNIGHT (the armored warrior). This English peculiarity reflects the medieval chivalric tradition where the warrior on horseback was the court knight. The silent K of KNIGHT was pronounced /kn-/ in 10th-century Anglo-Saxon English, just like "Knecht" in modern German (meaning squire/servant, the same Germanic root).
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
The _____ wore a suit of armour and carried a sword and shield.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
I prefer studying at _____ when the house is quiet.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
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Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy