Breakdown of Der Nebel war am Vormittag sehr stark.
sein
to be
sehr
very
an
at, on (vertical) / to (addressee) / of (in quantity/stock expressions)
stark
strong
der Vormittag
the morning / the forenoon
der Nebel
the fog, the mist
Questions & Answers about Der Nebel war am Vormittag sehr stark.
Why is "heavy" translated as stark here instead of schwer?
In English, we talk about "heavy" weather like rain or fog, but in German, weather phenomena are usually described as "strong" (stark). So you say starker Nebel (heavy fog), starker Regen (heavy rain), and starker Wind (strong wind). You use schwer mainly for physical weight or difficulty.
What is the exact difference between am Vormittag and am Morgen?
Morgen is the early morning, roughly from when you wake up until around 9 a.m. Vormittag literally means "before noon" (vor + Mittag) and covers the later morning hours up until 12 p.m.
Why does the sentence use am for "in the"?
The word am is a contraction of an dem. In German, you use the preposition an with the dative case for days of the week and parts of the day (like am Vormittag, am Montag, am Abend). The main exception is the night: in der Nacht.
Why isn't the time placed at the end, like "Der Nebel war sehr stark am Vormittag"?
While people would understand you, it sounds unnatural. German typically follows the "Time, Manner, Place" rule for sentence structure. The time element (am Vormittag) naturally comes before the descriptive part (sehr stark).
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