Am Mittag esse ich zu Hause.

the house

Breakdown of Am Mittag esse ich zu Hause.

• essen: to eat
• ich: I
• zu: at

Questions & Answers about Am Mittag esse ich zu Hause.

What exactly does am mean in Am Mittag, and why not just say an dem Mittag?

Am is a contracted form of an dem:

• an = a preposition (often “on” or “at”)
• dem = dative form of der (the, masculine singular)
• an + dem → am

So Am Mittag literally means “at the midday,” but in natural English we’d say “at lunchtime” or “at noon.”
The full form an dem Mittag would sound very odd here; Germans normally use the contraction am in this time expression.

Why is it am Mittag and not im Mittag?

German uses different prepositions with different kinds of time expressions:

• am (an + dem) → for days and parts of the day:

  • am Montag (on Monday)
  • am Morgen, am Abend (in the morning, in the evening)
  • am Mittag (at noon / at lunchtime)

• im (in + dem) → for months, seasons, longer periods:

  • im Januar (in January)
  • im Sommer (in summer)
  • im Jahr 2020 (in the year 2020)

So im Mittag is simply not idiomatic; for midday you say am Mittag.

What case is in, and why?