Five-thirty in the morning or in the morning?

Vocabulary accuracy, both in terms of oral and written language, is characterized as a skill that all of us, users of the linguistic system, must have at their disposal. However, it is worth mentioning that such skills are not conquered so suddenly, on the contrary, they are often conquered gradually, through the practice of certain habits that enable such acquisition, as is the case of the practice of reading and the constant search for the improvement of the apprenticeship.

It is also worth mentioning that, in the meantime, questions come and go, stumbling blocks and deviations arise, but, when resolved, they tend not to come back again, as this is how our understanding of something becomes effective, and this something certainly lasts for time. out.

In this sense, we present to you, dear user, some elucidations inherent to one of these fearful questions: the indication of hours. See some questions that arise related to the subject: five-thirty in the morning or in the morning? / half past six in the afternoon or in the evening?

Well, first of all, we must stick to the fact that some demarcations are always present when the subject refers to certain periods, as in the case of “dawn, morning, afternoon and night”. In this sense, the period between from 0h to 6h it refers to dawn; from 6am to 12pm, we have the morning; from 12:00 to 18:00 in the afternoon; and from 6 pm to midnight, at night.
So that's why we say 13h to justify that it is the afternoon period, thus differentiating from 1h dawn; we utter 18h to differentiate from 6 a.m, and so on. Another aspect, no less relevant, is that when it comes to specific situations of interlocution, as in the case of written language, the expressions “dawn, morning, afternoon and night” should be avoided, allowing the use only to manifest itself in everyday circumstances, such as, for example, in language oral.
In view of these assumptions, let us return to the inquiries that are conceived as pertinent, making the necessary adjustments, obviously:
Five-thirty in the morning / 5:30 am or even 5:30 am.
6:30 pm / 6:30 pm or 6:30 pm.

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By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Five-thirty in the morning or in the morning?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/cinco-meia-manha-ou-madrugada.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.