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There is neither a 12 a.m. nor a 12 p.m. There is only 12 noon and 12 midnight. 12:01 a.m./p.m. is possible, as is any of the other 58 minute markers. a.m. actually stands for Ante Meridiem (before noon) and p.m. stands for Post Meridiem (after noon).
Use 12 midnight and 12 noon instead. Especially as 'midnight' and 'noon' are beautiful and evocative and English words, unlike 'am' or 'pm'. If you wish to nit-pick about what they ought to mean, I would say that am (ante meridiem) means 'before midday', and pm (post meridiem) means 'after midday'. The first 12.00 before midday is midnight, and ...
Thus, while one make speak of 12.01 A.M., or 12:01 P.M. without confusing anyone, it is best not to use "A.M." or "P.M." with 12:00 itself, and instead say 12 noon, or 12 midnight. One can avoid this confusion by using a 24 hour clock (usually called "military time" in the US), although that also results in some confusion about whether the ...
In the 12-hour clock, midnight is simply 12.00 midnight, and midday is simply 12.00 noon. Of course, in the 24-hour clock any confusion is avoided by using 00.00 and 12.00. I am very intereted to know if my understanding is correct, as I have been using this format for some time!
Given the above lack of unanimity, you probably see by now that good writers and speakers don't say 12:00 a.m. or p.m., but specify 12 noon or 12 midnight, if, in fact, don't just drop the 12:00 altogether and say "noon" or "midnight. Others, such as some of the major U.S. air carriers, just publish their schedules based upon the 24-hour clock..
In describing noon and midnight, there are some who would quibble that noon and midnight are exact dividing lines between AM and PM, and thus 12:00 AM and 12:00 PM do not exist. They would prefer 12:00 Noon and 12:00 Midnight. As an example, Amtrak train timetables use the abbreviations "A" for AM, "P" for PM, "N" for noon and "M" for midnight.
Feb 3, 2006. #9. Strictly speaking there is no such thing as 12 A.M. and 12 P.M. technically. Midi is 12 noon and minuit is 12 midnight.... BUT it's so common to see and hear 12pm for midday and 12am for midnight that this is the adopted convention in English speaking cultures.
There was a recent thread about this. 12am and 12pm are both incorrect usage in the UK: 12.00 = midday; 24.00 = midnight. The 24 hour system is increasingly understood and used in English, especially in technical situations (aviation, shipping etc) L.
And maybe it's from a non-native English speaker as you have found it. Let's rephrase it as I have gone swimming at midnight , omitting 'at 12'. 1) I have gone swimming at midnight, once. 2) 'at midnight' isn't a specific time that can be understood as 'every midnight', so that the sentence can be viewed as: I have gone swimming every midnight.
English Atlanta, GA USA. May 26, 2014. #7. SwissPete, your answers are not all correct. Saying midday for noon is quite common in British English. Also, there's nothing wrong with saying quarter to noon or quarter past midday. However, you were right in saying that one cannot use noon/midday/midnight with exact times.