Ich komme erst am Abend nach Hause.

Here erst means not until or only as late as.

So Ich komme erst am Abend nach Hause means something like:

• I won’t get home until the evening
• I only get home in the evening

It adds the idea that this happens later than expected or not before that time.

Compare:

• Ich komme am Abend nach Hause. = I come home in the evening.
• Ich komme erst am Abend nach Hause. = I don’t come home until the evening.

So erst is very important for the nuance.

Am is a contraction of an dem:

• an dem Abend → am Abend

In German, am is very common with parts of the day when talking about time:

• am Morgen = in the morning
• am Nachmittag = in the afternoon
• am Abend = in the evening

So am Abend is the normal way to say in the evening here.

This is a very common German distinction:

• nach Hause = to home / homeward → movement toward home
• zu Hause = at home → location

So:

• Ich komme nach Hause. = I come home / I get home.
• Ich bin zu Hause. = I am at home.

In your sentence, the speaker is moving toward home, so nach Hause is correct.

Nach Hause is a fixed expression in German.

The form Hause is an old dative form that survives in a few common expressions. You do not usually need to create this form yourself with other nouns; just learn these as set phrases.

The most important ones are:

• nach Hause = homeward / to home
• zu Hause = at home

In modern everyday German, this -e ending is mostly preserved in expressions like these.

German main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule, often called V2.

In a normal statement, the conjugated verb comes in the second position:

• Ich | komme | erst am Abend nach Hause.

Here:

1. Ich = first position
2. komme = second position

Everything else comes after that.

This is one of the most important word-order rules in German.

German often places destination or direction later in the sentence, and this sounds very natural here.

The sentence is structured like this:

• Ich = subject
• komme = verb
• erst = adverb
• am Abend = time expression
• nach Hause = destination

Putting nach Hause at the end is very idiomatic. It lets the sentence build naturally toward the final idea: where the person is coming.

You could move things around for emphasis, but the original order is very normal and natural.

Yes, you can, but the meaning shifts slightly.

• am Abend usually refers to the evening in a more specific situation
• abends often suggests in the evenings or in the evening generally / habitually

So:

• Ich komme erst am Abend nach Hause.
  = I don’t get home until the evening.
  This can refer to a specific day or situation.

• Ich komme erst abends nach Hause.
  = I only get home in the evenings.
  This often sounds more habitual or general.

In many contexts, both are possible, but they are not always identical.

German often uses kommen where English prefers get.

So:

• nach Hause kommen = to come home / to get home

This is completely normal German. You do not need a special verb meaning get here.

Other examples:

• Wann kommst du nach Hause? = When are you getting home?
• Er kommt spät nach Hause. = He gets home late.

So even if English often says get home, German naturally says come home.

Grammatically, it is in the present tense:

• Ich komme

But in German, the present tense is very often used for the future when the context makes the time clear.

So this sentence can mean either:

• a present/habitual fact: I only get home in the evening
• a future situation: I won’t get home until the evening

German does this all the time. You do not always need werden for the future.

For example:

• Ich komme morgen. = I’m coming tomorrow.
• Ich komme erst am Abend nach Hause. = I won’t get home until the evening.

Am = an dem, and dem is dative.

So am Abend uses the dative case.

This happens because an can take either accusative or dative, depending on meaning, and in this time expression it is used with dative.

You do not have to analyze this every time, though. It is best to learn am Morgen, am Nachmittag, am Abend as common set expressions.

No, not in this meaning.

• nach Hause kommen = to come home
• zu Hause sein = to be at home

So:

• Ich komme nach Hause. = correct
• Ich bin zu Hause. = correct
• Ich komme zu Hause. = not correct for I come home

This is a distinction learners usually need to memorize.

No. That is a very common source of confusion.

Erst can mean different things depending on context:

• first / only then
• not until
• only as late as

In your sentence, it clearly means not until.

Examples:

• Erst esse ich, dann lerne ich. = First I eat, then I study.
• Ich komme erst am Abend nach Hause. = I don’t get home until the evening.

So you should not automatically translate erst as first. Context matters a lot.

Yes:

• Am Abend komme ich erst nach Hause.

That is grammatically correct.

Because German is a verb-second language, if you move Am Abend to the front, the verb still stays in second position:

• Am Abend | komme | ich | erst nach Hause.

This version puts more emphasis on Am Abend.

The original sentence is more neutral:

• Ich komme erst am Abend nach Hause.

Both are correct; the difference is mainly emphasis and style.