serale

Serale is an Italian adjective meaning "of the evening" and is used to describe periods, events, or activities that take place in the evening. It is commonly found in compound expressions such as lezioni serali (evening classes), programma serale (evening program), or orario serale (evening schedule). In everyday speech, di sera is often preferred for adverbial references to the evening, whereas serale tends to appear directly before a noun.

Etymology: The term derives from sera ("evening"), combined with the adjectival suffix -ale, forming an adjective that denotes relation to the evening. This formation is parallel to other Italian compound adjectives such as mattutino (morning) or pomeridiano (afternoon), though serale is specifically tied to the temporal sense of evening.

Usage notes: Serale is common in formal writing, scheduling, education, and cultural contexts. It is used to label activities that are regularly scheduled after working hours, for example "un corso serale" (an evening course) or "la programmazione serale di una televisione" (the evening programming of a TV channel). When indicating time more generally, many speakers prefer "di sera" rather than the compound form.

See also: Sera, Vespertino, Di sera, Programmazione, Lezioni serali.