Practice
Nighttime or night-time: which spelling should you use?
The store is quieter at nighttime. Another writer may call the same hours night-time. The hyphen is a style choice in this word, so the useful question is which spelling your reader expects.
Recognize nighttime and night-time as variants, choose the spelling that fits your dictionary or style guide, and keep it consistent in one piece of writing.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
nighttime /ˈnaɪt.taɪm/
The short answer
Use nighttime when you follow a style that writes this compound as one word. Use night-time when your dictionary, publisher, or local style guide uses a hyphen. Both mean the period of darkness. Do not switch between the two spellings without a reason in the same piece of writing.
Nighttime traffic is usually lighter on this road.
Why it works: Nighttime is one word here. It describes the traffic that happens during the night.
5 more examples
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The museum offers a nighttime tour on Friday.
Nighttime works as a one-word modifier before tour.
Not this:The museum offers a
night-time touron Friday. What changes: The hyphenated form has the same meaning. It follows a different spelling style. -
She works nighttime hours at the hospital.
The phrase refers to hours that happen during the night.
Not this:She works
night-time hoursat the hospital. What changes: The meaning stays the same when the writer uses the hyphenated spelling. -
The park feels peaceful at nighttime.
Here nighttime names the time when the park feels peaceful.
Not this:The park feels peaceful
at night-time. What changes: This spelling also names the time of night. The sentence does not change its message. -
Nighttime temperatures can fall quickly in the desert.
Nighttime modifies temperatures in a general statement about the night.
Not this:
Night-time temperaturescan fall quickly in the desert. What changes: A hyphenated style can make the same modifier without changing the idea. -
Please keep the hallway quiet during nighttime hours.
The one-word spelling is used consistently with the rest of this sentence.
Not this:Please keep the hallway quiet
during night-time hours. What changes: The hyphenated version is also understandable. Use the form required by the document's style.
Read the full guide
Start by checking the writing situation. A personal message does not usually need a strict house style, so nighttime is a practical American English choice. For a school paper, workplace document, or publication, follow the spelling already used in that document or named by its style guide.
Know the meaning first
Both forms refer to the hours when it is dark. The spelling choice is not a choice between two meanings. It is a choice about the written style you need.
The city looks different at nighttime.
The city looks different at night-time. Both sentences describe the same time.
Do nighttime and night-time refer to different parts of the day?
No. Both refer to the time when it is night.
Choose the one-word spelling when it is your style
Nighttime is a common one-word spelling in American English. It is a useful choice when no other house style tells you to use a hyphen.
Nighttime deliveries must use the side entrance.
Nighttime describes deliveries that happen during the night.
Complete the phrase with the common one-word American English spelling: ___ deliveries.
Use nighttime: nighttime deliveries.
Use a hyphen when the style requires it
A publisher or organization may write night-time with a hyphen. Follow that choice when you are writing for that reader. The hyphen does not change the time or the pronunciation.
The report compares daytime and night-time noise.
The hyphenated form matches a style that keeps this compound visibly joined.
Your editor uses night-time in every heading. Which spelling should you use in the report?
Use night-time so the report follows the editor's style.
Do not mix spellings in one document
Readers may notice a spelling change even when the meaning is clear. Before you submit a document, search for nighttime and night-time. Make the spelling match the style you chose.
The notice says nighttime parking on the first page and night-time parking on the second page.
The wording means the same thing, but the document looks inconsistent.
What should you do when both spellings appear in a document with no stated style?
Choose one spelling, then revise the other examples to match it.
Keep at night as its own phrase
At night is a common phrase for saying when something happens. Do not replace it with nighttime automatically. Use nighttime when you need the noun or modifier, and use at night when that fixed phrase gives the clearest sentence.
I usually read at night.
At night is a short time phrase. It is not a spelling variant of nighttime.
Choose the natural time phrase: I usually sleep better ___.
Use at night: I usually sleep better at night.
Before you go
Remember this
Nighttime and night-time mean the same period of darkness. Nighttime is a common one-word American English spelling. Use night-time when the required dictionary or style guide uses a hyphen. Choose one form and keep it consistent.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Nighttime or night-time: which spelling should you use?"
Is nighttime one word or two words?
Nighttime is commonly written as one word, especially in American English. Night-time is a hyphenated variant. The two spellings have the same meaning, so use the form required by your dictionary, editor, or publication style.
The museum offers a nighttime tour on Friday.
Is night-time incorrect in American English?
No. Night-time is understandable and appears in published writing. In many American English contexts, nighttime is the more usual one-word form. A required house style can still prefer the hyphenated spelling, so check the style that applies to your work.
The museum offers a night-time tour on Friday.
Can I use nighttime and night-time in the same document?
Avoid mixing the spellings in one document unless you are quoting a source that must keep its original form. Choose the spelling your document uses, then search for the other version before you submit or publish the work.
She works nighttime hours at the hospital.
Does the hyphen change the meaning of nighttime?
No. Nighttime and night-time both refer to the period when it is dark. The difference is orthographic, which means it is about spelling on the page. The pronunciation and the basic meaning stay the same.
She works night-time hours at the hospital.
Should I write at nighttime or at night?
At night is the usual short phrase when you simply mean when something happens. Use nighttime when it works as a noun or a modifier, such as nighttime work. Choose the wording that sounds natural in the complete sentence.
The park feels peaceful at nighttime.