Learn Hardcore German: Morgens gehe ich zuerst auf die Toilette und trinke dann ein Glas Wasser. - In the morning I first go to the toilet and then drink a glass of water.

morgens (lowercase in the middle of a sentence) is an adverb meaning “in the mornings / every morning / usually in the morning”.
- It expresses a habit or routine.
- Example: Ich trinke morgens Kaffee. = “I drink coffee in the mornings.”
am Morgen is more like “in the morning (on that specific day)”.
- It can be used for one particular morning.
- Example: Am Morgen war ich müde. = “In the morning (that day) I was tired.”
im Morgen is practically never used in normal modern German for this meaning.

In your sentence, Morgens (capitalized only because it’s the first word) tells us this is a regular morning routine, not just one single morning.

Why does the verb gehe come right after Morgens? Why isn’t it “Morgens ich gehe…”?

German has a “verb in second position” rule in main clauses:

The conjugated verb (here: gehe) must be in second position.
“Second position” means second element, not necessarily second word.

Your sentence:

Morgens = first element (a time adverb)
gehe = second element → verb must go here
ich zuerst auf die Toilette und trinke dann ein Glas Wasser.

If you start with the subject instead, it’s:

Ich gehe morgens zuerst auf die Toilette …

So:

✅ Morgens gehe ich …
❌ Morgens ich gehe … (breaks the verb-second rule)

Can I also say Ich gehe morgens zuerst auf die Toilette instead of Morgens gehe ich zuerst auf die Toilette? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both:

Morgens gehe ich zuerst auf die Toilette …
Ich gehe morgens zuerst auf die Toilette …

The meaning is basically the same: it’s your usual morning routine.

The difference is mainly emphasis and style:

Morgens gehe ich …
- Emphasis on when: “In the mornings, I (do this) …”
- More “topic–comment” style: “As for mornings, what I do is…”
Ich gehe morgens …
- Emphasis on “I” and the action: “I go (and I do this in the mornings).”
- Very neutral, common word order.

Both are perfectly correct.

Why is it auf die Toilette gehen? In English we say “go to the toilet,” so why not zu der Toilette or something like that?

Auf die Toilette gehen is a fixed idiomatic expression in German, similar to how English has set phrases like “go to bed,” “go to church,” etc.

A few points:

Preposition “auf” + accusative
- With movement towards something, auf usually takes the accusative:
  - auf den Tisch legen (onto the table)
  - auf die Toilette gehen (to the toilet)
- It emphasizes direction/goal.
Other natural options:
- zur Toilette gehen (short for zu der Toilette) – also used, more neutral, a bit more formal.
- aufs Klo gehen – colloquial, very common.
Not: gehen an die Toilette or gehen in die Toilette (those sound wrong/weird in this meaning).

So auf die Toilette gehen = the standard idiom for “to go to the toilet / to use the bathroom.”

Why is it auf die Toilette and not auf der Toilette? What case is being used here?

This is about accusative vs. dative with the preposition auf:

auf + accusative = movement / direction (where to?)
- Ich gehe auf die Toilette. → I go to the toilet.
auf + dative = location (where?)
- Ich bin auf der Toilette. → I am on/at the toilet.

In your sentence, gehen expresses movement toward the toilet, so we use:

auf die Toilette → die = accusative feminine singular.

If you were already there, you’d say:

Ich sitze auf der Toilette. (dative)

Why is it die Toilette and not der or das Toilette?

In German, every noun has a fixed grammatical gender that you just have to learn with the word.

Toilette is feminine: die Toilette
- Nominative singular: die Toilette
- Accusative singular: die Toilette (same form for feminine)

So in auf die Toilette:

Preposition auf with movement → accusative
Feminine noun Toilette in accusative → die Toilette

That’s why you see die here, not der or das.

What is the difference between zuerst and erst? Could I say erst instead of zuerst?

They overlap, but are not always interchangeable.

zuerst = first (in a sequence)
- Very clear sense of step 1, then step 2, …
- Morgens gehe ich zuerst auf die Toilette und trinke dann ein Glas Wasser.
erst can mean:
1. “not until / only (later)”
  - Ich esse erst um 10 Uhr Frühstück. = I don’t have breakfast until 10.
2. Sometimes, more casually, “first” in a sequence, especially in spoken German.

In your specific sentence:

zuerst is the clearest and most neutral choice.
Erst gehe ich auf die Toilette und dann trinke ich ein Glas Wasser is possible in speech, but erst also often carries a nuance of “only then,” so zuerst is safer and more precise for learners.

Why is it und trinke dann ein Glas Wasser and not und dann trinke ich ein Glas Wasser? Are both correct?

Both are correct, just a slightly different word order and emphasis:

… und trinke dann ein Glas Wasser.
- Literally: “and (I) then drink a glass of water.”
- The subject ich is understood from the previous clause and can be omitted in German in coordinated clauses like this.
- Normal German rhythm: verb early, adverb (dann) after the verb.
… und dann trinke ich ein Glas Wasser.
- Literally: “and then I drink a glass of water.”
- Emphasis slightly more on “then”; feels a bit more step-by-step, like telling a story.

So:

Grammar: both are fine.
Style: the original und trinke dann … is very natural, especially in descriptions of routines.

Could I say und ich trinke dann ein Glas Wasser instead of dropping ich?

Yes:

… und ich trinke dann ein Glas Wasser.

is also grammatically correct.

Differences:

ohne “ich”: … und trinke dann ein Glas Wasser.
- Feels a bit smoother, more concise.
- Very common when two clauses share the same subject.
mit “ich”: … und ich trinke dann ein Glas Wasser.
- Slightly stronger emphasis on “I”, more “full” sentence.
- Also perfectly natural.

German often omits the repeated subject after und, aber, etc., when it’s the same person and there’s no ambiguity, which is what’s happening in your sentence.

Why is it ein Glas Wasser and not something like ein Glas von Wasser, like “a glass of water”?

German typically expresses “a container of something” in this pattern:

[quantity/measure word] + [material / liquid]
→ without a preposition.

Examples:

ein Glas Wasser = a glass of water
eine Tasse Kaffee = a cup of coffee
eine Flasche Wein = a bottle of wine

You only use von in special cases, usually when you refer to a specific, already known quantity:

ein Glas *von dem Wasser = a glass of *that (particular) water

That’s more like “a glass of the water” (this specific water we already mentioned). For normal “a glass of water,” you simply say ein Glas Wasser.

Why is it ein Glas Wasser and not einen Glas Wasser? Isn’t it the direct object and therefore accusative?

Yes, ein Glas Wasser is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

The key point is the gender of “Glas”:

das Glas (neuter noun)
Nominative singular: ein Glas
Accusative singular: ein Glas (neuter has the same form in nominative and accusative)

So:

Das ist ein Glas. (nominative)
Ich trinke ein Glas Wasser. (accusative)

If the noun were masculine, you would see the change:

Ich trinke *einen Kaffee. (Kaffee = masculine → *einen, not ein)

Why are Toilette, Glas, and Wasser capitalized, but morgens is normally not?

German capitalization rules:

All nouns are capitalized.
- die Toilette
- das Glas
- das Wasser
Adverbs and most other parts of speech are not capitalized, unless they are at the start of a sentence.
- morgens is usually lowercase, because it’s an adverb (“in the mornings”).
- In your sentence, it appears as Morgens only because it’s the first word.

So in the middle of a sentence, you’d write:

Ich gehe morgens zuerst auf die Toilette und trinke dann ein Glas Wasser.

Why is the present tense (gehe, trinke) used for a routine? In English we might say “I usually go” or “I’m going in the morning.”

German present tense (Präsens) covers several uses that English splits between simple present and present progressive.

Here:

Morgens gehe ich zuerst … und trinke dann …
→ expresses a habit / regular routine, just like English simple present:
- “In the mornings, I first go to the toilet and then drink a glass of water.”

German does not have a separate progressive tense like “I am going / I am drinking” as a separate grammatical form. Context words like morgens, immer, oft, etc., show that it’s about a habit.

So the plain present tense is exactly right here.