Learn Hardcore German: Der Kurs beginnt morgen um neun Uhr. - The course starts tomorrow at nine o’clock.

Kurs is grammatically masculine, so its definite article in the nominative singular (the form used for the subject of the sentence) is der.
Der Kurs = the course as the subject (the thing doing the action of beginning).

The other forms would be:

den Kurs – masculine accusative (used for direct objects, not subjects)
dem Kurs – masculine dative
des Kurses – masculine genitive

Here, Kurs is the subject (“the course begins”), so der Kurs is required.

Why is it beginnt and not something like beginntet or beginnst?

The verb is beginnen (“to begin”). It is being used with der Kurs, which is 3rd person singular (“he/it”).

Conjugation of beginnen in the present tense:

ich beginne – I begin
du beginnst – you (singular, informal) begin
er/sie/es beginnt – he/she/it begins
wir beginnen – we begin
ihr beginnt – you (plural, informal) begin
sie/Sie beginnen – they / you (formal) begin

So for der Kurs (it = 3rd person singular), the correct form is beginnt.

If it happens in the future, why is German using the present tense beginnt and not a future form like wird beginnen?

German very often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially for scheduled events (timetables, appointments, classes, trains, etc.).

Der Kurs beginnt morgen um neun Uhr.
Literally: “The course begins tomorrow at nine o’clock.”
Meaning: “The course will begin tomorrow at nine.”

You can say:

Der Kurs wird morgen um neun Uhr beginnen.

…but this sounds more formal or emphasizes the act of beginning itself. In everyday speech, the simple present with a time expression (morgen, nächste Woche, etc.) is completely normal for future events.

Could I also say Der Kurs fängt morgen um neun Uhr an or Der Kurs startet morgen um neun Uhr? Are these the same?

They’re very close in meaning, but not identical in style and nuance:

Der Kurs beginnt morgen um neun Uhr.
Neutral, standard, slightly more formal. Very common in written and spoken German.
Der Kurs fängt morgen um neun Uhr an.
Uses the separable verb anfangen (fängt ... an).
Also common, maybe a bit more conversational.
Der Kurs startet morgen um neun Uhr.
Uses starten, which can sound a bit more informal or technical, and is often used with machines, events, flights, etc.

All three are understandable and acceptable. For a course, beginnt or fängt … an are most typical.

Why is the word order Der Kurs beginnt morgen and not Der Kurs morgen beginnt?

German main clauses follow the “verb-second” rule:

One element (subject, time, place, etc.) comes first.
The conjugated verb must be in second position.
The rest of the sentence follows.

In your sentence:

1st position: Der Kurs
2nd position: beginnt (the conjugated verb)
Then: morgen um neun Uhr

So:

Der Kurs beginnt morgen um neun Uhr. ✅
Der Kurs morgen beginnt um neun Uhr. ❌ (the verb is no longer in second position)

However, you can start with the time and move the subject:

Morgen beginnt der Kurs um neun Uhr. ✅
(Now Morgen is first, beginnt is second, and der Kurs follows.)

Why do we use um with the time (um neun Uhr) and not am or im?

German uses different prepositions for different kinds of time expressions:

um is used for specific clock times:
- um neun Uhr – at nine o’clock
- um 18 Uhr 30 – at 6:30 p.m.
am (an + dem) is used for days and parts of days:
- am Montag – on Monday
- am Morgen – in the morning
- am 3. Mai – on the 3rd of May
im (in + dem) is used for months, seasons, years:
- im Mai – in May
- im Sommer – in summer
- im Jahr 2025 – in the year 2025

So for a clock time, you must use um:
Der Kurs beginnt morgen um neun Uhr.

What case is neun Uhr after um? Is there any change to the words?

um is a preposition that governs the accusative case.

um
- accusative

However, in this phrase, both neun (the number) and Uhr (the noun) don’t visibly change form between nominative and accusative:

nominative: die Uhr – the clock/hour
accusative: die Uhr – the clock/hour

So even though the preposition um requires the accusative, you don’t see any change in form here. Grammatically it is accusative, but it looks the same.

Why do we say neun Uhr instead of just neun? Can we leave Uhr out?

Uhr literally means “clock” or in this context “o’clock”, and it makes clear that you’re talking about a time of day.

neun Uhr – nine o’clock
um neun Uhr – at nine o’clock

In many everyday contexts, you can omit Uhr if it’s clear you’re talking about time:

Der Kurs beginnt morgen um neun.
Still perfectly normal and understood as 9:00.

However, in more formal or precise speech/writing (timetables, notices, official information), you will often see Uhr included:

Der Kurs beginnt morgen um 9:00 Uhr.

So:

With Uhr = a bit more explicit/formal.
Without Uhr = very common in spoken language, still correct.

Why is Uhr capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of their position in the sentence.

Uhr is a noun meaning “clock,” “watch,” or used like “o’clock” in time expressions.
Therefore it must be capitalized: neun Uhr, um neun Uhr, die Uhr.

This is a general rule:

der Kurs, die Stadt, das Auto, die Zeit, morgen um neun Uhr, etc.

What is the difference between morgen and Morgen?

The word form looks almost the same, but capitalization changes the meaning:

morgen (lowercase) = tomorrow
- Der Kurs beginnt morgen um neun Uhr.
  The course begins tomorrow at nine o’clock.
der Morgen (uppercase, with article) = the morning
- Der Morgen ist kalt.
  The morning is cold.
am Morgen = in the morning
- Der Kurs beginnt am Morgen um neun Uhr.
  The course begins in the morning at nine o’clock.

In your sentence, morgen is lowercase, so it clearly means tomorrow, not “in the morning.”