In the Morning

Most people start their days in the morning (unless they work at night or have trouble sleeping),
so the morning is often the busiest time of day. That also means that there’s a lot of vocabulary
you should know to talk about the things you do in the morning.

Morning Time Vocabulary

Early Morning. Some languages have a special name for the period of time between
approximately 12 midnight and 6:00 a.m., but English doesn’t. Instead, just say “early morning”
or “really early morning.”

Sunrise. This is when the sun appears in the morning, usually between 5 and 7 a.m. in most
places. This is when the day starts. The word risemeans “go up,” and we can also use it as a verb
and say “the sun rises.”

Dawn. Dawn is another name for the period of time when the sun rises.

Mid-morning. Mid-morning isn’t an official time, but it’s about halfway between when you
wake up and when you eat lunch.

Late morning. This refers to any time close to 12:00 (noon) but still before then.

From ___ to ___. You’ll probably use this phrase to talk about many of your daily activities. If
you do something for a period of time, you can use this phrase and mention the start and end
time of that activity.

Jennifer works from 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

At + (specific time). Like we saw in the explanation above, use at if you’re talking about a
specific time (but not a period of time).

Jennifer usually gets to work at 8 a.m.

On + (date or day of the week). Use on for specific days or dates.

I normally work on Tuesdays, but on January 1st I won’t have to work.

Our boss said no one had to work on New Year’s Day because it’s a holiday.
In + (month or year). Use in for longer periods of time like months, years, and seasons.

We often start work at 8 a.m, but in winter the office opens at 9.

That “winter time” schedule starts in November this year, but we won’t do that in 2017.

Morning Place Vocabulary

In bed. This is the place where most of us start our day. You can also say “on the bed” if you’re
sitting, but usually not if you’re laying down.

In the bedroom. This one is more logical. If you’re talking about a specific room in your house,
office or any other building, you can say in, since you’re usually inside those rooms.

In the bathroom. Most people spend time in the bathroom as part of their morning routine. In
the next section we’ll look at some of the most common actions people do there.

In the kitchen. This is another example of using in with rooms.

At work. Many people start working in the morning. When they’re working, you can say
they’re at work.

At school. If you take any kind of class, you will probably spend some of your morning time at
school. In English, you can use the word school for most educational institutions, including
universities. But remember if you say “at school,” you’re probably talking about the general
area. You can also mention a specific area in the building, like in the lunchroom, in the
gymnasium or in the principal’s office.

Using transportation. Generally, you’ll use the word in or on with most vehicles, and by with

the type of transportation.

 On + larger vehicles or one-person transportation. You can say:

o on the bus
o on the train
o on the airplane
o on the tram/streetcar
o on the ferry/boat

You should also say on a bike, on a motorcycle or on a horsebecause you’re on top of those
things—and if you ride a horse to work, you probably have a more exciting job than I do! 
  In + smaller vehicles (or large ones). I’ll admit this is confusing. For all of the large
vehicles in the last point, you can also say in if you want, but it’s less common. So you
can say “in the bus” or “on the bus,” but on is more common. In is more common with
smaller vehicles for only a few people. You can say “in a car,” “in a taxi” or even
something more modern like “in an Uber.”

 By + type of transportation. If someone asks you “How do you get to work?” you can
respond with by and then the type of transportation. If you walk, you can say “by foot,”
but there are many other options:
o by public transportation
o by bike
o by car
o by bus

Morning Actions

Mornings are usually a busy time, so there are a lot of common actions you’ll want to talk about
then. You can also do most of these actions later in the day, so remember them when we’re
talking about other parts of the day.

Wake up. This means to stop sleeping. When you’re sleeping, you’re asleep, and after you wake
up, you’re awake.

Get up. This can be similar to wake up, but get up means that you start to physically move your
body. Most people get up when they leave their beds and start their daily routines.

Get ready. When you get ready, you do all of the things that you need to do to start your day.
This can include different actions for different people, but now we’ll show you some common
morning actions.

Take a shower/bath. This means to clean your body. If you take a bath, it’s in a bathtub. Most
people these days don’t take baths, but instead take showers. It’s also common to say “have a
shower/bath,” especially in British English. The verb for all these actions is to bathe.
Brush your teeth. This is when you clean your teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Dentists
also recommend that you floss your teeth with dental floss.

Comb/brush your hair. This is what you do with your hair (if you have hair). These words can
be verbs or nouns. A comb is usually made of plastic and flat, and a brush is larger and usually
circular.

Put on makeup. Some people put on makeup in the morning. Makeup is different colored

substances that people put on their faces to enhance or cover different parts of the face.
Get dressed. After finishing your morning routine, you probably put on clothes. That action is
also called getting dressed.

Make and eat breakfast. Some people are rushed (they don’t have time) in the morning, but
you should try to eat a healthy breakfast. It’s the best way to start your day! Some people
also take breakfast with them or stop by a fast food restaurant or cafe to buy breakfast, and then
they eat it on the way to work.

Go to work/school. If you live far away, or have to drive or take public transportation,
the process of going is also called commuting, and you can say “I have to commute to work.”
Some people work from home, and they’re often called telecommuters.

Those are the most common words and phrases you’ll need to talk about your morning
routine. Remember that you can use a lot of the vocabulary from this section at other times of
day.

At Noon

Noon is the most common word for 12:00 p.m. You might hear people say midday, but that’s
usually a more general time. Noon is more exact and much more common.

Because noon is in the middle of work or school days, most people eat lunch around this time.

Noon Time Vocabulary

At noon. Because noon is an exact time (12 p.m.), we say at noon.

Lunch break / Lunch hour. This is a period when people stop working or studying so that they
can eat lunch. It’s usually around noon and about an hour long.

Noon Place Vocabulary

In the lunchroom/cafeteria/restaurant. These are different places where people often eat

lunch. A lunchroom is usually connected to a school or a company’s office, and it’s generally
just for people who work or study there.

Another word for a lunchroom is a cafeteria. Note that a cafeteria isn’t a place that serves mainly
coffee (that’s a coffee shop) or a small, informal restaurant (that’s a cafe).
Noon Actions

Eat lunch / Go out to eat. If you go out or go out to eat, then you leave your office or school to
eat somewhere else, usually a restaurant. You can also use the phrase eat out.

In the Afternoon

The afternoon starts at 12 p.m. (because it’s after noon, 12 p.m.), and it ends around the time it
gets dark outside.

I don’t have any additional time vocabulary for the afternoon, so let’s look at place vocabulary.

Afternoon Place Vocabulary

Happy hour. This is a period of time when some bars or restaurants offer special prices on
drinks or food, but it isn’t necessarily one hour. Bars and restaurants have happy hours to attract
customers, so happy hours are usually after most people stop working, but before they eat dinner.

Afternoon Actions

Get off work. This is a phrase that means to stop working. You can also say stop working, but
it’s more common to hear something like:

 I get off work at 5, so would you like to meet me at 5:20 at the bar for happy hour?

Leave school. This is when you finish your classes and leave the school or campus.

Go out for dinner / drinks. This is like eating out for lunch, but usually after people finish
working. If you go out for drinks or cocktails, you probably go to a bar or restaurant.

Buy a round of drinks. If you go to a bar for happy hour, you may want to be generous and buy
a drink for all of your friends. If so, then you’re going to buy them a round of drinks. You can
say something like “I’ll get this round” or “This round is on me” if you’re offering to pay.

Go home, Get home. Going home (or commuting home) is what most people do after work.
When you arrive at your house, you can also say get home. For ways to talk about the types of
transportation, check the Morning section.

Study. If you’re doing any kind of work for your education, you can say that you’re studying.
You may be writing an essay (a type of formal report or paper), practicing material you have
learned or preparing for an exam. You can say I’m studying for all of those things.
Hang out, Relax. This is when you spend your free time doing things that interest you or
spending time with your friends. It’s usually an informal time and an informal phrase.

Do homework. If you do homework, then you work on assignments that you have from a
previous class. Note that homework isn’t countable, so if you have a large amount, you can say “I
have a lot of homework.”

Work out / Exercise. These are two phrases that mean the same thing. They both mean doing
physical activity to stay fit. You can work out at a gym, in your house or outside. You can
also do exercise or just use exercise as a verb, like:

 I try to exercise every afternoon before dinner.

Make dinner. If you like to cook (and have the time), you might make dinner. That means to
prepare the food for dinner. Some people aren’t interested in cooking (or they may not have
time), so they can also eat outfor dinner, or even order food for delivery, which means that a
restaurant brings the food right to their house.

In the Evening
I’ve noticed that not every language has a word like evening. In English, evening is generally the
period of time after the sun goes down (when it becomes dark), but before you go to bed.
The pronunciation is sometimes a bit difficult, also. Click here to hear it, and note that it has two
syllables, not three.
Evening Time Vocabulary

Sunset. Sunset is the time of day when the sun sets (goes down or disappears). In most places,
the sunset is between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., but it can change a lot depending on the location and the
season.

Twilight, Dusk. These are two more names for the period of time when the day becomes dark. If
you hear someone say the phrase “from dusk till dawn,” they mean during the night, and “from
dawn till dusk” means during the day.

I don’t have any additional evening place vocabulary for you, so let’s look at some common
evening actions.

Evening Actions

There’s not always a clear division between afternoon, evening and night, so many people do
these actions at different times.
Eat dinner. Dinner is the last meal (serving of food) of the day. It’s also called supper in some
places, and dinner can sometimes refer to a formal meal at different times of the day.
Watch TV or a movie. You probably know what this means, but just note that if you go out
to watch a movie, you can say “I’m going to the movies” or “I’m going to the movie theater.”
In British English, a movie theater is often called a cinema, and a movie is often called a film.

Go out. This is a general term, but it means to leave your house to do something. You can use it
if you’re going out for dinner or for drinks at a bar, or you may use it if you’re going out on a
date, which is when you meet with someone who you’re interested in romantically.

At Night

Remember that this is the exception, so you normally say at night. You may hear some phrases
that use in the night, but at is still more common.

Also, note that good night isn’t a greeting (a way to say “hello”). If you say “good night” to
someone, it’s like saying “goodbye.“ You can also say it right before you go to sleep.

Night Time Vocabulary

Midnight. This is at 12 a.m., in the middle of the night. It’s the opposite of noon.

Night Actions

Get ready for bed. This is the reverse of what you do when you get ready in the morning. You
may take off or change your clothes and maybe put on pajamas (or whatever you wear when you
sleep). It’s also common to wash your face, brush your teeth and maybe take a shower. Some
people like to read or do other relaxing activities before bed.

Get things ready for the next day. If you’re a night owl (a person who’s more active at night)
like I am and not an early bird (someone who prefers mornings), you may want to do a few
things at night to prepare for the next day.

You can set your alarm to wake you up in the morning, set out things for breakfast the next
morning or maybe lay out the clothes that you’ll wear the next day. That way, you won’t have to
make decisions when you’re tired in the morning!

Go to bed / Get in bed. This is when you physically move to your bed. It’s the opposite of get
up in the morning.

Go to sleep. This is when you stop being awake and start sleeping.

Sleep tight! This is a common phrase that people say, but it doesn’t actually make much sense. It
rhymes with “good night,” so you may hear someone say “good night, sleep tight, don’t let the
bedbugs bite!” (Bedbugs are small insects that live in beds and bite people when they sleep.)