What is the difference between phrases "by the afternoon" and " by afternoon"? In some student books said that you should use only "by the afternoon" but I met many times the phrase"by afternoon". So are both phrases acceptable and do they have the same meaning?

Question

Answer

In the United States, they are both common, correct, acceptable, and mean the same thing.

There might be some subtle difference in a shade of meaning, but I'd just be guessing if I tried to say what it is.

Answer

They're both acceptable. There are often cases with 'time periods' where the article can be omitted or included; such as, periods of the year (i.e. seasons: spring, summer fall, etc) and periods of the day (i.e. morning, afternoon, evening).

Answer

Personally I consider both ‘by afternoon’ and ‘by the afternoon’ a little vague compared to ‘morning’ and ‘evening’ and wouldn’t say either. Maybe I’d say ‘by early/late afternoon’

Evden çıkmadan dil öğrenme fırsatını kaçırmayın. Deneyimli dil eğitmenlerimizden oluşan seçkimize göz atın ve ilk dersinize şimdi kaydolun!