what time is it at noon?
At noon, is it 12 am or 12 pm? And what about midnight? Thank you

Question

what time  is it at noon?
At noon, is it 12 am or 12 pm? And what about midnight? Thank you

Answer

Noon - 12pm
Midnight - 12am

Answer

An interesting question!  Although many people have adopted a standard usage of calling midday 12pm and midnight 12 am, this choice is actually quite arbitrary.

In fact, the correct answer is 'neither'.  As a speaker of a Latin language, you'll be aware that 'am' and 'pm' stand for Latin phrases, meaning, respectively 'before noon' and 'after noon'. So, to say either 12 am or 12 pm is actually meaningless.

The style advice is to avoid either term.  Say 12 noon, 12 midday, or 12 midnight.  Or just 12.00. Or 24.00.

Answer

The day begins at midnight so it is "ante meridien": 12am.
Noon is "meridien": 12m, also mistakenly written 12pm. (12:00:01 is pm).

Answer

It's 12 pm at noon.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!