AP Style Noon, Midnight

AP Style states that a “12” should not be placed in front of noon or midnight. For instance, sentences should be written as follows,

• Correct: We met for lunch at noon.
• Wrong: We met for lunch at 12:00 noon.
• Correct: Eating dinner at midnight is far too late.
• Wrong: Eating dinner at 12:00 midnight it far too late.

AP Style also notes that midnight is part of the day that is ending, not the one that is beginning. For example,

• The invasion took place on August 21 at midnight.

In this example, the midnight that is happening is at the end of August 21^st, not the beginning of August 22^nd. Reference this with Chicago styling on use of midnight.

If you want any other information about using noon and midnight in your writing, check out our full post on the subject.