Is it correct to say I eat dinner at 8 at night? I want to show that 8 in in night not in the morning or some thing else.
For example:
I go to school at 8 in the morning.
I eat dinner at 6 at night.
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We use the abbreviatioms a.m. and p.m. to denote the time before and after 12:00 noon respectively. 8:00 a.m. denotes 8 in the morning, for example.– P. E. Dant Reinstate MonicaCommented Oct 10, 2016 at 7:37
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1@P.E.Dant - True, but conversationally, there's nothing wrong with using "in the morning" or "at night."– J.R. ♦Commented Oct 10, 2016 at 10:17
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I hope my comment isn't taken to mean "We use only the abbreviations..."!– P. E. Dant Reinstate MonicaCommented Oct 10, 2016 at 15:52
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1 Answer
Phrases like:
- in the morning
- in the afternoon
- in the evening
- at night
are common ways to ensure a given time of day is not ambiguous, particularly in conversation.
Regarding one of your particular examples, I think:
I eat dinner at six at night.
seems a little redundant, since most people eat dinner around that time. You could just say, "I eat dinner at six." But for other statements, that would be fine, like:
I walk my dog at six at night.
As one user mentioned in a comment, we can also use AM or PM, particularly in more formal contexts. For example, I probably wouldn't send an email to everyone in my office saying:
We plan to run the updates at seven at night.
Instead, I'd write:
We plan to run the updates at 7 PM.
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Chicago Manual of Style, AP Stylebook, MLA Style Manual, and Merriam-Webster dictionary all tell us that the preferred style is to use lower case letters with periods after them in "a.m." and "p.m." But who elected them, anyway? Commented Oct 10, 2016 at 15:57
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@P.E.Dant - I would follow their preferred style if I was submitting a paper to a journal. I don't usually consult them when I'm composing an email for co-workers.– J.R. ♦Commented Oct 10, 2016 at 17:24
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Heh! Of course not, neither would I, but maybe that belongs in the answer somewhere. (The style guides also speak of small caps w/o full stops, but without real typographical tools that's hard to manage.) Commented Oct 10, 2016 at 18:32