When Does Evening Start?
Evening is the part of the day between afternoon and night. Where it begins depends on the sun, the season and who you ask.
Evening covers the hours from late afternoon until bedtime. There is no official boundary. Broadcasters usually start it at six, restaurants at five, and in midsummer Britain it can still feel like afternoon at nine — the word tracks daily life more than the clock.
- The end of the day, before night. *We arrived in the evening.*
- A social occasion held then. *An evening of music.*
- Evening as greeting. *Evening, all.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | evening | A quiet evening. |
| Plural | evenings | Summer evenings. |
| Adjective | evening | Evening classes. |
| Adverb | evenings | He works evenings. |
| Related | dusk | At dusk. |
How it is used in a sentence
- See you this evening.This evening, not today evening.
- She teaches evening classes twice a week.Evening as a modifier.
- On summer evenings the square fills up.On with a specific plural.
The parts of the late day
- Afternoon — midday until roughly five or six
- Evening — from then until bedtime
- Dusk / twilight — the light after sunset
- Night — full darkness onwards
- The small hours — after midnight
From Old English *æfnung*, from *æfen*, evening — the same word as the poetic *even* and *eve*. Christmas Eve preserves the old form, meaning the evening before.
In the evening or at evening?
In the evening. At is used with night and with clock times: at night, at seven.
Is *good evening* a greeting or a farewell?
A greeting. The farewell is good night, which is why saying good evening as you leave sounds odd.