La nube cubre la montaña por la mañana.

The cloud covers the mountain in the morning.

Breakdown of La nube cubre la montaña por la mañana.

• la mañana: the morning
• la montaña: the mountain
• por: in
• cubrir: to cover

Questions & Answers about La nube cubre la montaña por la mañana.

Why do we use the definite article la before nube and montaña?

In Spanish, singular countable nouns normally require a definite article when referring to something specific. Unlike English, you can’t drop the article. So:

• la nube = “the cloud”
• la montaña = “the mountain”
  Make sure the article agrees in gender (both feminine) and number (both singular).

Why is the verb cubre in the simple present tense instead of a progressive like “is covering”?

Spanish often uses the simple present to describe both habitual actions and events happening now. For example:

• Habitual: Los pájaros vuelan al sur cada invierno.
• Current: El sol sale por el este.
  If you want to emphasize that it’s in progress at this very moment, you can use the present progressive:
• La nube está cubriendo la montaña.
  But the simple present (cubre) is perfectly natural and more concise.

What’s the difference between por la mañana and en la mañana, and why do we use por here?

To talk about parts of the day in a general sense, Spanish uses por:

• por la mañana (in the morning)
• por la tarde (in the afternoon)
• por la noche (at night)
  Using en la mañana is grammatically possible but sounds less idiomatic, especially in Latin America. Por indicates a general time span rather than a specific moment.