WATCH: 黑料网 Are "a.m." And "p.m." Short For?
黑料网 does a.m. mean?
The term we associate with the morning, a.m., is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ante 尘别谤墨诲颈别尘 meaning 鈥渂efore midday.鈥�
黑料网 does p.m. mean?
P.m. is an abbreviation of post 尘别谤墨诲颈别尘, meaning鈥攜ou guessed it鈥斺�渁fter midday.鈥�
These two terms help keep ambiguity at bay in the 12-hour time system.
黑料网 does m. mean?
There is a third, lesser-known abbreviation in this system: m. From the Latin mer墨di膿s (鈥渕idday鈥�), it means “noon.” However, m. is rarely used and might confuse readers or listeners should you casually drop it into conversation or insert it into your writing; noon is conventionally expressed as 12 p.m. or 12:00 p.m. and midnight as 12 a.m. or 12:00 a.m.
Do you capitalize a.m. and p.m.?
In formal writing, it is best to lowercase both a.m. and p.m. and retain the periods (as opposed to writing them AM/PM or am/pm); however, should you choose to use a different format, the most important rule is to be consistent throughout your piece.
Note that when a.m. or p.m. end a sentence, as in The train is arriving at 10 p.m., it is not necessary to place an additional period at the end. And, for our final writing tip, since these abbreviations specify an hour鈥檚 relation to noon, it is not necessary to use morning, evening, night, or 辞鈥檆濒辞肠办 with them.
