I was told the correct way to express time was to use either 10 a.m. or 10 AM. Now I just read that it should be written 10am with no space after the number. What is correct and who decides what's correct anyway?
2007-02-21 05:31:48 · 9 answers · asked by Lilac Lady 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
you should just use miltary time like the rest of the world
2007-02-21 05:35:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you can say 10 (hours) ‘before noon’ or 10 (hours) ‘after noon’ and spell them ordinarily as different words, there is no logical reason why you should not do it likewise by writing the same as 10 a.m. or 10 p.m. — in their long-used abbreviated Latinized forms — without overburdening the dictionary with the meaningless ‘computerese’ of some operating systems!
2007-02-21 06:02:35 · answer #2 · answered by sidentity 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For copywriting purposes, it would be 10am or 10 a.m. I never use capital letters. If you are not abbreviating (using periords) the "a.m." then there is no space between the number and letters.
2007-02-21 05:40:27 · answer #3 · answered by Enchanted 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since a.m. and p.m. are initials denoting the words ante meridian (Before mid day) and post meridian (after mid day) then that's the way they should be written, with full stops after each letter. It is, however, acceptable, through popular usage, to write them in the ways you describe since they are being merely ways of distinguishing morning from afternoon.
If you were writing your name, for example, Peter Robert Smith and using initials then it would be P. R. Smith not PR Smith.
2007-02-21 06:03:53 · answer #4 · answered by quatt47 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes there are organisations who decide what is correct. For instance, transcriptionists and technical medical writers follow the AAMT guidelines (American Association of Medical Transcriptionists), where they have set standards for technical writing.
Casual writing requires no standards, but if you are a technical writier, you need to adhere to standards.
PM, as i understand is the abbreviation for Post Meredian. The standard for most abbreviations are that they must be separated by periods. It would be correct if we write p.m.
But standards for abbreviations keep changing, which makes MP (Member of Parliment) not wrong without periods (only in caps). For instance, Mr. needn't be with a period; so says the Wren and Martin, but Dr. cannot be without a period, your word dictionary would recognise it as correct.
2007-02-21 05:39:13 · answer #5 · answered by Niv 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You decide what is the correct way for you. I think everyone will understand what time you mean however which way you write it down.
2007-02-21 05:37:44 · answer #6 · answered by I Know, I Know 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is 10 AM the right way.
2007-02-21 05:40:19 · answer #7 · answered by Vlado 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm really not sure it matters...as long as the person understands am from pm what's the difference??
2007-02-21 05:38:03 · answer #8 · answered by reggiethecokegirl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've seen it all of those ways, and I think they're all okay.
2007-02-21 05:36:12 · answer #9 · answered by Peggy Sue 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋