Eve vs. Even vs. Evening

Evening (noun) – is the time between afternoon and night. The exact time can vary, but essentially it is the time from 4pm-7pm. For example, “nice Sunday evening”, “Let us meet tomorrow evening to discuss further.”.

Eve – eve is the evening before any special day, mostly holiday – “Christmas eve” or “New Year’s Eve” where there is something to celebrate or look forward to.

·         The directors gave bribe on the eve of election.

·         I am planning to go to my cousin’s house for the Christmas eve.

Eve is also referred to the woman who is also believed to be the first woman and originator of human race.

Even –  

As an adjective, even means flat, smooth or balanced. It can also mean levelling out something.

·         The roads are not even here and no one cares to repair them.

·         It was an even match between boys and girls.

·         The rules of the game should be even for all.

·         Even out the differences and focus on the game. (here even is a verb indicating balance)

·         This is the evenest bed I have seen.

Even numbers are those that can be divided by 2 with remainder as zero.

As an adverb, even is used to give stress upon a surprising element.

·         I told her that this meeting is important. Even, then she couldn’t come on time.

·         I haven’t even started with the basics. How will I clear the exams?

·         You don’t even have to go to the shop. You can get everything online.

To “break even” in a business means no gain no loss. It essentially means you got what you spent. “This event is a great opportunity to get some good sponsors and break even.”

To “get even” is to fight back or counterattack to someone’s actions or comments. “Now, we are even!” “You hit me, I hit you, we got even. Let us rest the case here!”

Even (as used in one of the examples above) can be a verb. This means there is an -ing form to it. Let us re-write the sentence above –

                “Even out the differences and focus on the game.”

To even out means to make even or level out something. This can also be written as

                “Evening out the differences can help you focus on the game.”

Note that there is slight difference between both sentences. While the first sentence asks the listener to do as said, the second one is more of a suggestion. Here evening means levelling out and not the time of the day.

Finally, here is a sentence that can help you understand all the words in one place –

If you come on the Christmas eve and stay till New year, we can have atleast 5 evenings of fun together. We can even plan a short trip with family.