Tell time with midnight and noon- Do you use the articles?

Question

When telling time and using midnight and noon are you supposed to include the article or leave it out? I asked some of my native Speakers and some use it and others do not. Is it a regional thing to use or not use the article?

Al mediodía. At .noon. Es el mediodía. It is noon.

A la medianoche. At midnight. Es la medianoche. It is midnight.

Answer 1

Really goes either way. This is how I use it:

• "Te encontrare al mediodia" "I will meet you at noon"

• "Sali a la medianoche" "I left at midnight"

Another note about telling time, often times the "es" or "son" is left out completely. Por ejemplo:

• "Que hora es?" "What time is it?"

• "(Las) nueve y media" "9:30"

• "(La) Medianoche" "midnight"

Even in these cases you may or may not hear the "La" or "Las"

Think about it in english, if someone asks "what time is it?", 99% of people just say "9:45", almost no one says "It is 9:45". Just the small things we do to shorten sentences.

Hope that helps.