Der Vormittag ist frei.

Because Vormittag is a noun, and German nouns usually appear with an article when you are talking about a specific thing in a full sentence.

• der Vormittag = the morning / the late morning
• In this sentence, der Vormittag is the subject, so using the article sounds natural.

You can sometimes see Vormittag without an article in certain expressions, but not normally in a sentence like this one.

Vormittag means the part of the day before noon.

It is not exactly the same as English morning, because German often divides the day more precisely:

• der Morgen = early morning
• der Vormittag = late morning, before noon
• der Nachmittag = afternoon

So Vormittag is specifically the time between morning and noon.

This is a very common question.

• der Morgen usually refers to the morning in a broader or earlier sense
• der Vormittag refers more specifically to the time before noon, often after the early morning hours

For example:

• Am Morgen trinke ich Kaffee. = In the morning I drink coffee.
• Am Vormittag habe ich einen Termin. = I have an appointment in the late morning / before noon.

In many everyday situations, they can overlap a little, but Vormittag is more specific.

Because it is a noun. In German, all nouns are capitalized.

So:

• der Vormittag
• das Haus
• die Zeit

This is one of the most noticeable spelling differences between German and English.

Because the subject is singular:

• der Vormittag = singular
• so the verb must also be singular: ist

Compare:

• Der Vormittag ist frei.
• Die Vormittage sind frei.

So ist agrees with the singular noun.

Because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing being described.

In Der Vormittag ist frei:

• der Vormittag = subject
• ist = verb
• frei = predicate adjective

The subject of a sentence is normally in the nominative case, so we get der Vormittag.

Because frei is used here as a predicate adjective, not directly before a noun.

After verbs like:

• sein = to be
• werden = to become
• bleiben = to remain

German adjectives usually do not take endings.

So:

• Der Vormittag ist frei.
• Das Zimmer ist groß.
• Die Kinder sind müde.

But before a noun, adjective endings do appear:

• der freie Vormittag = the free morning

Here frei means something like:

• free
• unoccupied
• available
• with nothing scheduled

So the idea is that the late morning is open or unscheduled.

Depending on context, frei can also mean:

• free from work
• available
• vacant
• exempt
• liberated

But in this sentence, it usually means there is nothing planned for the morning.

Not directly. The sentence literally makes the morning the subject:

• The late morning is free.

In natural English, that often implies:

• someone has no appointments then
• that time slot is available
• the schedule is open during that period

So it often refers indirectly to a person’s schedule, but grammatically the sentence is about the time period, not the person.

Yes, and that is extremely common.

• Ich habe den Vormittag frei. = I have the morning free.
• Der Vormittag ist frei. = The morning is free.

The second version sounds a bit more like talking about a schedule or time slot. The first version more clearly says that I am free during that time.

Because this is a normal German main clause:

1. subject: Der Vormittag
2. verb: ist
3. complement: frei

German main clauses usually put the finite verb in second position. Here the subject happens to be first, so the pattern looks very similar to English.

You could also change the emphasis:

• Frei ist der Vormittag — possible, but unusual and stylistically marked
• Der Vormittag ist frei — the normal neutral order

Not by itself in the same way. Am Vormittag means in the morning / during the late morning, so it is a time expression, not the subject.

• Der Vormittag ist frei. = The morning is free.
• Am Vormittag bin ich frei. = I am free in the morning.

So am Vormittag is used when you want to say when something happens, not when the morning itself is what you are describing.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• FOR-mi-tagk

More carefully:

• Vor sounds like for, but with a German r
• mit has a short i, like mitt
• tag sounds like tahk with a long a

The stress is on the first syllable:

• VOR-mittag

Yes, it is natural, especially in contexts like:

• scheduling
• calendars
• work appointments
• travel plans
• school timetables

For example, someone looking at a calendar might say:

• Der Vormittag ist frei, aber am Nachmittag habe ich Termine.

So it is a normal sentence, especially when talking about whether a block of time is available.