German students sometimes think that "am Morgen" and "morgens" can be used interchangeably, but they actually communicate different things. In this blog post I explain the difference.
Am Morgen, Mittag, Nachmittag, in der Nacht are nouns that refer to one occasion and translate as in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon, and at night.
e.g. Am Morgen hat er eine wichtige Besprechung
(In the morning, he has an important meeting)
Morgens, mittags, nachmittags, abends, nachts are adverbs that are used for approximate times of day or- more frequently- for recurring events. So in the mornings, afternoons, evenings etc.
e.g. Morgens dusche ich mich und ich frühstücke.
(In the mornings, I take a shower and I eat breakfast)
The nouns can be used in combination with “heute”, “morgen, “gestern” etc.
Heute Morgen - this morning
Heute Mittag etc.
However, for obvious stylistic reasons, we do not say “Morgen Morgen” for tomorrow morning 😉. Instead we say “morgen früh” (literally tomorrow early).
To learn about other temporal prepositions in German, check out my post. You might also be interested in the related post on the difference between am meisten and meistens.
Do you want to learn about other grammar topics and the German language, then check out our German Language Blog. We explain why girl is neutral in German and the most important gender rules in the language, how to use articles and cases in German, the infamous German word order, the difference between direct and indirect questions, which online German dictionaries are worth using, which apps are good to learn German, and we give you 5 good reasons why you should learn German with us.
