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# pm

«pm» in Mova's school dictionary: **«pm» (from Latin post meridiem, "after midday") means the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

abbreviation (pm, p.m., PM)

### meaning for a pupil

1) «pm» (from Latin post meridiem, "after midday") means the hours after 12 noon and before midnight: 3 pm is in the afternoon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#m1)

2) «PM» (UK, Australia, Canada, etc.) stands for Prime Minister, the leader of the government. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#m2)

3) (informal, online) «PM» means a private message: "PM me". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In school maths, time problems use am and pm: from 10 am to 2 pm is 4 hours — you count across noon. 12 pm is noon (midday) and 12 am is midnight, which confuses many people. The 24-hour clock writes 3 pm as 15:00 — add 12 to the pm hour. In news, the PM gives speeches. Online, people send PMs. Phrases: «at 3 pm», «the PM», «send a PM».

### examples

- School finishes at 3 pm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x1)
- The film starts at 7:30 pm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x2)
- From 11 am to 2 pm is 3 hours. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x3)
- 4 pm on the 24-hour clock is 16:00. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x4)
- The PM visited our town today. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x5)
- Lunch is at 12 pm, which means noon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x6)
- Can you PM me the homework? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x7)
- The shop is open 9 am – 5 pm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/#x8)

### note

Written pm, p.m. or PM; lower case for time is common in the UK and Australia, «p.m.» in the US. Do not write «3 pm in the afternoon» (it repeats itself). Trap: 12 pm = noon, 12 am = midnight. For durations crossing noon, count to 12 then add the pm hours. To change pm to 24-hour time, add 12 (except 12 pm).

### In the corpora

- [In the UK the watershed is 9 pm: programmes not suitable for children are not shown on ordinary TV channels before then.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/57-age-ratings-and-why-they-exist/19/)
- [At 11pm she had lost two more ranks, her eyes were stinging and she slept badly.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/407-rage-quitting-and-ranked/8/)
- [Jayden told his squad his bedtime, and they moved the big 10 pm game to Saturday afternoons.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/418-sleep-and-school-mornings/18/)
- ["You picked pm, ya numpty!" ("numpty" is Scottish for a silly person).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/103-morning-afternoon-24-hour-clock/3/)
- [For any hour over 12, take away 12 to get the pm time: 15:30 is 3:30 pm, 20:00 is 8 pm.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/103-morning-afternoon-24-hour-clock/6/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pm» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pm/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.