I am a beginner Spanish student and we are learning how to say what time things are at and tell the time. On an online homework assignment, I got these two wrong.
The question I was supposed to answer was “¿A qué hora es el almuerzo?”. They said it was at 12 pm. So I wrote “El almuerzo es a las doce de la tarde.” But they said it was supposed to be “El almuerzo es a las doce del día.” Shouldn’t both work?
On the other one I got wrong, they gave us times and we were supposed to say what time it is. It said 12:00 am. I put “Son las doce de la mañana.” It was corrected as “Son las doce de la noche.”
Before this, I thought that de la mañana = anytime in the AM, de la tarde = PM before dark, and de la noche = PM after dark. Is this incorrect? I know that the other ways to say 12 PM and 12 AM are “mediodía” and “medianoche” but why were my answers wrong?
I do consider 12 AM night not morning, so I guess de la noche makes sense, however the correct answer for 1:00 AM was “Es la una de la mañana.” Is it not correct to say de la mañana until 1 AM? I think of 1 AM as night as well.
Anyways, thanks in advance. I know probably I over complicated the question with all my writing, but I wanted to share my thought processes.
Videos
En español se usan las las abreviaturas a. m. (del latín ante merídiem "antes del mediodía") y p. m. (del latín post merídiem "después del mediodía"). Estas abreviaturas deben escribirse en minúsculas y con la puntuación indicada. Para las doce de la mañana (o del mediodía) se utiliza m. (del latín meridies "mediodía"). Así, por ejemplo:
La entrada es a las 7.30 a. m. (la entrada es a las siete y media de la mañana).
El servicio se realizará a las 5 p. m. (el servicio se realizará a las cinco de la tarde).
La clase es a las 12 m. (la clase es a las doce del mediodía).
Para más información sobre la hora en español, ver hora en el Diccionario panhispánico de dudas.
In Spanish, the abbreviations a. m. (from the Latin ante meridiem "antes del mediodía") and p. m. (from the Latin post meridiem "después del mediodía") are used. These abbreviations are written in lower case and using the indicated punctuation. For noon it is custumary to use m. (from the Latin meridies "mediodía"). For example:
La entrada es a las 7.30 a. m. (la entrada es a las siete y media de la mañana).
El servicio se realizará a las 5 p. m. (el servicio se realizará a las cinco de la tarde).
La clase es a las 12 m. (la clase es a las doce del mediodía).
For more information on the hour in Spanish, see hora in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas.
In speech in Mexico I only ever noticed
- de la mañana for a. m.
- de la tarde for p. m.
In English pronouncing the abbreviations is just as common in speech as in writing but I'm sure I never heard anyone pronounce them in spoken Spanish though it's clear from the other answers here that they are normal in written Spanish.