Does anybody really know what time it is?

[RebelDogg]

As I was walking down the street one day, a man came up to me and asked me what the time was that was on my watch. And I said...

Sorry. I can't answer that accurately... すみません! That's just been stuck in my head...

Anyway. My question is this: I have been under the assumption that the Japanese use 午後　and 午前　in the same way that we do (A. M. and P. M.) But I've just heard that they actually get more specific than that. So when you tell the time you should use 午前/朝,　昼,　午後,　夕方,　夜,　深夜 respectively depending on the time of day.

It sounds a bit odd... is this really the case or is it okay just to stick with 午前　and 午後?

I'm sure it's okay to use the other words to be more specific. Just like in English where you would say "It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon" or "4 in the morning." But is it necessary?

Thanks!

[Psy]

You're thinking way, way too hard. In Japanese 午前・午後, if they're said at all, are put just before the time, e.g. 午前７時 or 午後８時. You don't need to be that specific (this isn't Thai!), so things like ７時半 (7:30), ５時１０分前（10 till 5:00), ３時ごろ (around 3), and １時ぴったり(1 o'clock sharp) all work just fine. I'm not familiar with those other words being used in combination when stating a specific time, but if you want to I don't see any reason why you couldn't.

That's my take, anyway.

[RebelDogg]

Yeah, I didn't think it sounded right but the thing I read made it sound like it was necessary to be more specific. I figure maybe he was just trying to illustrate vocabulary usage or something.