Afternoon and Evening Hours: Differences and Uses

People might feel ashamed to admit it, but they are confused between different times of the day, especially between afternoon and evening hours. What are the ‘afternoon hours’ and ‘evening hours’? The word ‘afternoon’ does interpret itself which is ‘after noon’. However, how long does an afternoon last?

For example, you might be confused about whether you will mark 4:30 p.m. as an afternoon or evening hour. The overlapping between the timings of afternoon and evening hours leads to hesitancy. Let’s check out what afternoon and evening hours mean and how long they last every day.

What do You Mean by Afternoon Hours?

To be honest, marking the exact shifting time from afternoon to evening is difficult. Afternoon hours refer to the time frame between the afternoon and before the evening of the day. Now, the sun sets at different times across the world. However, the sun sets within 6:00 p.m. So, what are the afternoon hours then?

Well, afternoon hours begin at 12:00 p.m. and can stretch up to 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. You can expect the sun to be bright and glaring the most during afternoon hours. In the USA, the afternoon is from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. However, the exact hour might differ depending on the time the sun sets.

On the other hand, some cultures believe that afternoon hours start from 2:00 p.m. There are differences in religious customs, climate, work schedules, and more to decide the regional afternoon hours. Otherwise, you can consider the time frame between 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. as the afternoon hour range.

Apart from this, afternoon hours can be divided into 2 major categories, and they are:

• Early afternoon time
• Late afternoon time

Early Afternoon Hours

The early afternoon time refers to the period between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., in general. Talking about this hour’s significance, people tend to face a moderate level of focus and energy. In fact, many people witness a slump in their energy factor during this time. 

Even people might experience the following signs in their bodies:

• Feeling mentally fatigued
• A drop in blood sugar levels
• Dehydration and more

Late Afternoon Hours

As you can guess, the period between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. can be considered as late afternoon time. Reportedly, people face a drop in their energy and focus qualities during late afternoon hours. Additionally, research has backed up this fact, and you can experience a decline in your cognitive performance.

However, some people have claimed that they feel more energetic during late afternoon hours. Well, this is more evident for those who engage in physical activities or boost their blood sugar levels with sufficient snacking and drinking.

What do You Mean by Evening Hours?

Hopefully, you got what afternoon hours interpret. However, what are evening hours considered? As soon as the afternoon ends, evening hours roll out. Generally, evening hours start from 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. in most nations.

For example, evening hours are believed to be initiated from 6:00 p.m. and it lasts till 9:00 p.m. of the day. However, like afternoon hours, there are no official hours for the evening. Some countries also consider evening hours after supper, such as from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Still, you can consider the time frame between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. as evening hours. Again, we can divide evening hours into the 2 following sections:

• Early evening hours
• Late evening hours

Early Evening Hours

If you consider evening hours from 5 to 9:00 p.m., then you can mark the duration between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. as early evening hours. Those who suffer from advanced sleep disorders might feel sleepy and tend to go to bed during early evening hours.

Late Evening Hours

From 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., it’s late evening time. Remember that the early or late afternoon or evening hours are decided by a specific location’s work culture, religious beliefs, and climate conditions.

Differences between Afternoon and Evening Hours

What are the Afternoon hours and Evening hours? You got the idea. Now, it’s time to point out their differences. The main difference is the time. Let’s go through possible differences between afternoon and evening hours, no matter where you live.

• The sun leans to the west from its peak during afternoon hours. At the same time, the sunset indicates the evening of the day.
• Additionally, greetings are different for these times. For example, you would greet anybody with a ‘Good afternoon’ message. However, it’s ‘Good evening’ for evening hours.
• The afternoon hours are the time gap between noon and evening. At the same time, the evening hours are the bridge between afternoon and night.

How to Use Afternoon in Sentences?

Afternoon initiates immediately after 12:00 p.m., commonly known as noon. If you want to use afternoon properly, here’s what you should know. You can use the word afternoon as both a noun and an adjective. A few examples will clarify your doubts:

• Please join the meeting at 3:00 in the afternoon. Here, we have used afternoon as a noun. Additionally, the use of afternoon helps us omit the use of a.m. or p.m. in the sentence.
• He’s enjoying his afternoon tea. As you can see, here afternoon is used as an adjective.

How to Use the Word ‘Evening’ in Sentences?

Well, you can apply the same noun and adjective rule for the evening. Here’s how you can describe the time of the day using the word evening.

• We complete our dinner around 7:00 p.m. every evening. We have used the evening as a noun here.
• He’s out on her evening walk. Here, ‘evening’ interprets what kind of walk it is. So, this is used as an adjective.

Other Times of the Day

What are the Afternoon and Evening hours? We have answered them in detail. However, you might be curious about other times of the day. Hence, we have got them in brief, too:

• The morning starts at 5 a.m. and lasts up to noon or 12 p.m. On the other hand, early morning hours refer to the window between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. The mid and late morning hours are from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., respectively.
• We skip the afternoon and evening hours as we have discussed them in detail before.
• The night is considered from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.

In Conclusion…

We hope that you get a clear understanding of afternoon and evening hours. Can I greet someone with ‘Good Evening’ at 4 p.m.? Now, you can answer that depending on your region’s cultural beliefs, weather forecast, latitude, and working hours. However, in general, 4 p.m. is still within the afternoon hours.