Good evening<\/strong> = a greeting often used in the evening, after approximately 5:00-6:00pm.\u00a0 This greeting is used similarly to “good morning” or “good afternoon.” This is a greeting to be used when meeting someone or passing by someone. \u00a0This is essentially a way of saying \u201chello.\u201d This phrase is generally not<\/em><\/strong> used when taking leave of someone although the similar phrase \u201chave a good evening\u201d can be used when leaving someone for the last time in a 24 hour period of time in the evening or night time.<\/p>\n Here is a little dialogue to help clarify the difference.<\/p>\n Clem:<\/em> Good evening<\/strong> Terry, have you had dinner yet? *\u201dGoodnight\u201d is often also spelled \u201cgood night\u201d, though it is my understanding that goodnight (as one word) is the proper form of the word as a greeting. \u00a0Sometimes this greeting is also written as “good-night.” These three versions all generally have the same meaning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was recently walking down the street around 7:00pm and a non-native English speaker said to me \u201cGoodnight.\u201d \u00a0I replied back to him, \u201cgood evening.\u201d \u00a0This started me thinking about the important difference between the use of these two phrases \u201cgoodnight*\u201d and \u201cgood evening\u201d in English. It is important to know what each means…<\/p>\n
\nTerry:<\/em> Hi Clem, no I haven\u2019t, but I have too much work to do to go out to dinner.
\nClem:<\/em> \u00a0That\u2019s too bad. \u00a0I was hoping you would join me for a bite to eat.
\nTerry:<\/em> I\u2019m sorry I can\u2019t this evening.
\nClem:<\/em> Well, good luck with all your work. \u00a0Goodnight.<\/strong>
\nTerry:<\/em> Thank you. Goodnight<\/strong>, enjoy your dinner.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/03\/good-night.jpg\")