По утрам я часто ем хлопья с йогуртом, когда мне некогда готовить.

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Breakdown of По утрам я часто ем хлопья с йогуртом, когда мне некогда готовить.

• есть: to eat
• с: with
• часто: often

Questions & Answers about По утрам я часто ем хлопья с йогуртом, когда мне некогда готовить.

What does по утрам mean, and how is it different from утром?

По утрам means in the mornings or every morning / on mornings in general. It emphasizes a repeated, habitual time.

• По утрам я часто ем хлопья... = In the mornings, I often eat cereal...
• Утром can also mean in the morning, but it is less explicitly repetitive by itself.

So here по утрам is a very natural choice because the sentence describes a routine.

Why is it утрам and not утро?

Because the preposition по often takes the dative case in expressions of repeated time.

• утро = nominative singular
• утрам = dative plural

So:

• по утрам = in the mornings
• literally something like along mornings / on mornings

This is a common pattern in Russian:

• по вечерам = in the evenings
• по выходным = on weekends
• по понедельникам = on Mondays

Why is я included? Could it be omitted?