What does AM and PM mean
The definition of time in English is closely related to am and pm. These abbreviations came to English from Latin and simply indicate two halves of the day: from midnight to noon and from noon to midnight. The decoding for am and pm is as follows:
AM – ante meridiem, “before noon”, interval from 00:00 to 12:00
PM – post meridiem, which in Latin is “after noon”, the interval is from 12:00 to 00:00
The United States of America, Great Britain and English-speaking Canada use the 12-hour system of time in English.
What is the difference between am and pm
If the event is scheduled for, say, 5 p.m., then it will sound like this:
I have an event planned for 5 pm. I have an event scheduled for 5 p.m. (That is, pm is after noon, in the afternoon).
If you have a plane early in the morning, let’s say at three in the morning, then you can say this:
I have a flight at 3 am. I have a plane at three in the morning. (That is, am is after midnight, at night or in the morning).
Noon and midnight
To avoid confusion and the question: “How much is 12 pm?”, remember:
Midnight is 12 am
How to write and use am and pm
There are several uses for am pm in writing. Time can be specified like this:
Lowercase letters with dots: am and pm
Lowercase without dots: am and pm
Capital letters without dots: AM and PM
In business correspondence by e-mail or in a messenger, as well as in ordinary correspondence with friends, you can use any spelling am pm – the translation will be the same. However, writing in small letters without dots is most common: am, pm.
Comparison table of 24-hour and 12-hour time formats
Despite the difference in writing time, the day is the same for everyone. We have already explained with you above that in 12-hour time format 12:00 am equals 00:00. The time from 12:00 am to 12:00 pm is equivalent to the time from 00:00 (midnight) to 12:00 (noon) in 24-hour time format.
To indicate the time in this, range from midnight to noon, an English-speaking person using the 12-hour time format will use almost the same designations as a person living in the 24-hour format. The only difference is that 00:00 for us is 12 am for them.
As soon as the clock moves from 11:59 to 12:00, the morning turns into afternoon and noon comes.
Now we need to translate the time after noon or PM. To convert time from 12-hour format to 24-hour time, you need to subtract 12 from all hours after 12:00. In English-speaking schools, this is the method that children are taught when they go through the topic of time. Here’s how you can do it:
Have you heard that in America and some other countries there is such a thing as “war time” – military time? To avoid possible confusion with am and pm, some industries require the familiar 24-hour format to be used.
It is used by police officers, military and doctors. The military time format omits the colon and adds the word “hours”: 1300 o’clock, while the 24-hour time format uses a colon and omits the word “hours”: 13:00.
We call the time in English by the hour: example sentences with am and pm with translation
We should send this parcel by 3pm today. We need to send the parcel by three days.
I finish work at 5:30 pm – I finish work at five thirty in the evening.
My train departs at 4:35 am. My train leaves at four thirty-five.
She will be here for dinner at 7 pm – She will come to dinner at seven in the evening.
Maria told him to be back home at 12 pm. Maria told him to be at home by 12 noon.
Everyone should be back from the party by 12 am – Everyone should be back from the party by midnight.
It is 3:15 a.m. – It’s three fifteen in the morning.
Basic words on the topic of time
Of course, using am and pm is only one of the options you can choose when talking about time in English. To specify the desired time of day.
Don’t know what time it is? Then you can ask:
What’s the time? – What time is it?
What time is it? – What time is it now?
Could you please tell me the time? – Can you tell me what time it is?
Do you happen to have the time? “Do you happen to know what time it is?