It is “p.m.” (post meridiem), not “pm,” that tells you where in the day you are: it means any time from just after 12:00 noon up to 11:59 at night on a 12‑hour clock.

What “p.m.” means

  • p.m. is short for the Latin post meridiem , meaning “after midday.”
  • It covers the hours from 12:00 noon to 11:59 at night on a standard 12‑hour clock.
  • Times like 1:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 11:30 p.m. are therefore afternoon or evening times, not morning.

Where in the day is p.m.?

Think of the day split into two halves:

  • a.m. = midnight (12:00 a.m.) up to just before noon (11:59 a.m.) — the “before midday” half.
  • p.m. = noon (12:00 p.m.) up to just before midnight (11:59 p.m.) — the “after midday” half, i.e., afternoon and evening.

So if you see a time with “p.m.” on it, you know you are in the second half of the day, after lunch and before midnight.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.