This forum post agrees. It still gets the point across, whether it’s accurate or not, well I’m not an English major.“Last evening at about 7 o’clock I did…” – just doesn’t sound right to me.It may be less common, but it is only a matter of preference.
Yours is certainly more common, but there is nothing wrong with saying “last evening”.Either one gets the point across, I’d say it’s preference. It's kind of a weasel word to side step giving the exact evening or is used when exactness is unimportant. Brown passed away last evening at 8:15.
As far as I can research here, “last evening… A. I was born and raised in the USA. Top synonyms for last evening (other words for last evening) are yesterday evening, last night and other night. Last night, yesterday evening, and more. This use of "last evening"sounds completely correct to me. I read this in an obituary from which I'm trying to determine the date of death:It's used by non-native speakers, especially in Indian English.
last night ( uncountable ) (often used adverbially) The evening or night immediately before the present. Like the word "few", being three or seven or what? There’s nothing grammatically wrong with it. You last visited July 25, 2020, 2:19 am. A. Last Evening synonyms. It’s just perhaps not used as often as your suggestions, though I have heard it. Not incorrect, just not commonly used.As far as I can research here, “last evening” is not obviously incorrect.This discussion you linked seems to be how to use proper English, and at the end it says to use either “last night” or “yesterday evening” in most applicable situations… So I am assuming it is less accurate to say last evening.I don’t agree with your claim that your suggestion is more accurate, as all of the phrases successfully identify the time as being the evening of the previous day. (“I spent last evening with Bill” is an altogether different statement from “I spent last night with Bill.”) I think your friend deserves to hear that the correction was misguided.© 2020 Fluther Aquarium, LLCIt’s proper but not idiomatic; what makes terms or expressions part of the common parlance is mysterious and changing.
However, it leaves me wondering if Mr. Brown died last night, the evening before or even a couple of evenings ago. I don’t hear “Yesterday Evening” all that much, it sounds a bit off. I would not suggest “last night” as a viable alternative, as perhaps the person was specifying that the event happened in the evening as opposed to the night.
I would say it and do say it routinely. “Yesterday evening” is the way I would phrase it personally. "After a long extended illness, during which time he has been gradually sinking, J.