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REFERENCE

this afternoon

fixed phr..
A1 Beginner Oxford

fixed phr.. The time between about noon and evening on the current day.

fixed phr.. A deictic temporal adverbial phrase referring to the period of the current day between midday and evening.


SIMPLE

Let's meet this afternoon.

CONTEXTUAL

I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so I need to leave work early.

COMPLEX

The committee will reconvene this afternoon to deliberate on the final amendments to the proposed legislation.

Usage

This phrase acts as an adverb of time and does not require a preposition.

Teaching tip

Point out that unlike 'in the morning' or 'at night', time expressions with 'this' (e.g., 'this morning', 'this evening') do not take a preposition.

Pitfall

We are meeting in this afternoon.We are meeting this afternoon.No preposition like 'in' or 'at' is used before time expressions starting with 'this'.

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