The accident happened at 8:22 p.m. last night. (Is there redundancy?)

The accident happened at 8:22 p.m. last night .

Is there redundancy in the part in bold?

2 Likes

Hi @Kohyoongliat

Have a look here:

The accident happened at 8:22pm. (exact time)
The accident happened last night. (when/which part of the day)

Having both, the exact time and when in the day is more specific for the reader.

1 Like

Many thanks, Andrea!

2 Likes

Good morning Andrea, thank you very much for taking your time to answer this question. This thread will be read by many people in the months and years to come and lots of learners of English will be benefitting from it.

1 Like

Morning Torsten, you’re welcome :+1: :wink:

1 Like

The accident happened at 8:22 p.m. last night .

The accident happened at 8:22 last night.

Is it correct to remove “p.m.”, since “last night” makes it amply clear that it is "pm and not “am”?

Thanks.

2 Likes

In an official police report you probably might read something like 'The accident happened at 20:22 on the night of Friday, January 10th, 2020. In spoken English the ‘pm’ is redundant because ‘last night’ makes it clear that the accident happened post meridiem.

2 Likes

You need to keep pm, can’t leave it out.

pm does indicate afternoon/evening

I’ve changed the sentence to show that pm should still remain and doesn’t rely on yesterday:

The accident happened at 8:22 p.m. yesterday.

2 Likes

Many thanks, Andrea and Torsten!

2 Likes

Yes, to me, there is redundancy.
You may use either The accident happened at 8:22 pm yesterday.
or The accident happened at 8:22 last night.
(I think pm is more common than p.m.)

2 Likes

Many thanks, Anglophile.

Andrea states “You need to keep pm, can’t leave it out” in the post above.

3 Likes

You seem to have copied my sentences and posted them as a separate question. Well, I have offered my opinion there.

2 Likes