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Now is morning

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Xinfu
June 13, 2014, 04:26 AM
Can we say?:

-Now is morning/night/afternoon/evening.

NOW as a noun at the beginning does not sound very good. What is the correct way to express the meaning?

Rusty
June 13, 2014, 05:07 AM
Indeed, in the examples you've written, using 'now' as a noun sounds strange.

I would be tempted to rewrite, although the use of the noun form may disappear.
Now it's morning.
It's morning now.
It's now morning.
It's morning.

We're more accustomed to phrases like:
Now is the time to ...
Now would be a good time ...

Xinfu
June 15, 2014, 08:12 AM
Thank you~

For other words, is THE optional in this case?:

-It's (the) afternoon/evening/night now. (I think AFTERNOON & EVENING sound good, but not NIGHT here, apart from the THE problem.

Rusty
June 15, 2014, 08:28 AM
Adding 'the' is rare, actually, when you're speaking about 'now'.

It's afternoon right now.
It's in the afternoon right now.
It's the afternoon right now. (This can be said to convince another that it is no longer morning.)

It's evening right now.
It's evening time right now.
It's in the evening right now.
It's the evening right now. (Same comment as above.)

It's night right now.
It's nighttime right now.
It's the night right now. (This can be said, but used to distinguish one night over another.)

Xinfu
June 16, 2014, 01:44 AM
Thank you~

Xinfu
July 14, 2014, 11:08 PM
Can I say this?:

-Next night/evening he waited in the same place.
-The following night/evening he waited in the same place.

In English, NEXT DAY/MORNING sound good, but not NIGHT/EVENING.

Rusty
July 15, 2014, 04:57 AM
The next night/evening ...
The next day/morning ...

The definite article is needed.

Xinfu
July 18, 2014, 09:14 AM
Thank you. Even after consulting dictionaries, my doubts are still unsolved. Are the plural and THE optional?:

-Now is (the) summer holiday(s)/vacation(s).
-It is (the) summer holiday(s)/vacation(s) now.

Rusty
July 18, 2014, 02:28 PM
The article is needed.
In American English, we use 'vacation', the plural form reserved for back-to-back vacations. The summer vacation, though weeks in length, is one vacation.
The plural 'holidays' is chiefly British English usage. They would say 'summer holidays'.

Xinfu
July 19, 2014, 11:34 PM
Thank you~You say NOW cannot be used to tell the time in that way; then can I use NEXT WEEK/YEAR as a subject? No dictionaries have such sentences:

-(The) Next week will be August.
-(The) Next year will be 2027.

Rusty
July 20, 2014, 07:30 AM
Both of your sentences are valid, with or without the definite article.

It's also possible to add 'it' before 'will' (or the contraction "it'll").