This is something that I don't understand because I was never taught the correct way.
Now and then when I'm out walking in the street and I pass someone else, like a dog walker for example a short but polite passing greeting is exchanged.
"Morning." one of us would say. For the other to respond with "Morning" in return. Or "Evening" or "Afternoon" depending on the time of day.
Basically I've only heard "Morning" spoke at anytime up to 11:30am.
However, as soon as it turn 12pm midday then it becomes "Evening" or "Afternoon".
Is there a difference between "Evening" and "Afternoon" or are they interchangeable?
UPDATE: I've been going through the replies and noticed the general concensus is that afternoon is between 12pm and 5pm with evening being between 5pm and 9pm. Not to mention the consensus that people don't like people for not knowing this.
I consider it the evening, but I've heard differing opinions.
There is no strict agreement on what "afternoon" and "evening" mean. But generally, "afternoon" refers to the time between 12 p.m. (noon) and 6 p.m. I don't think the sun being out or not has much bearing beyond standard time changing to daylight savings time and back.
Some people might prefer to say evening starts when the sun goes down. This is a traditional definition of evening. But as far as converting that idea to a specific point in time, most people would agree that 5 p.m. is still technically afternoon, whether or not the sun is out.
If you want to be more specific, you could refer to anything between noon and 2 p.m. as early afternoon, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. as mid afternoon and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. as late afternoon.
It is worth noting that other similar questions have been closed as off-topic as the answers are 'primarily opinion-based'. People may well have a different opinion as to when the evening begins. I personally think 4 pm is too early to be considered evening, but here are some things you should consider:
Most people work during the daytime and go home in the evening. The most standard working hours for most people are from 9 am until 5 pm. It is unlikely people working these hours would consider anything before 5 pm to be "evening".
The etymology of the word "evening" means the coming of the end of the day. You're probably familiar with the "eve" of something being the moment or day just before it (eg Christmas Eve). As midnight is the time when a new day begins it would be odd to say that 4 pm, which is closer to 12 noon than it is to midnight, is before the eve of the next day and not after noon.
Many people refer to their dinner, or last main meal of the day as their evening meal. This time of course varies and may have an influence on what time people consider "evening".
What's the cut off?
Just heard the radio say that a show will "start this afternoon from 4pm", which is dangerously close to being the evening imo.
What do you consider the points where afternoon becomes evening and evening becomes night? We can't just divide 24 by 4, because the morning is selfish and takes 12 whole hours. In the middle of a heated WhatsApp thread debate, so thought I'd see what the casual UK thinks.
12:00 -16:00 - afternoon 16:00 - 21:00 - evening 21:00 - 00:00 - night
4pm evening? Absolutely not, that's peak afternoon. You can't do these things by maths, you absolute square - they're cultural.
5am-12pm - Morning
12pm - 6pm - Afternoon
6pm-9pm - Evening
9pm-5am - Night
I’ve always just split the day into quarters.
So:
06:00-12:00 = morning;
12:00–18:00 = afternoon;
18:00-00:00 = evening;
00:00-06:00 = night;