Prepositions of Time in German

In Brief

Use um with exact clock times, am with days and dates, and im with months, seasons, and years when a preposition is needed: um acht Uhr, am Montag, im Juli. Use von ... bis for a range, seit for something that began in the past and still continues, vor for “ago/before,” and nach for “after.” Learn each preposition together with a typical time phrase rather than translating English at, on, and in word for word.

Overview

Prepositions of time are short words that place an event at a point in time, within a period, or in relation to another event. German calls them Zeitpräpositionen. They are essential at A1: you need them to arrange a meeting, give opening hours, say when you travel, or explain how long you have lived somewhere.

English provides a useful starting point, but not a dependable translation rule. English has “at eight,” “on Monday,” and “in summer”; German has um acht, am Montag, and im Sommer. The best approach is to associate a kind of time expression with its German pattern.

Several of these prepositions affect case (the form taken by an article, pronoun, or adjective). Most of the core items here take the dative in their temporal meanings. The dative is the case used after certain prepositions; at first, fixed combinations such as am (an dem) and im (in dem) let you communicate without calculating every ending. Um, by contrast, takes the accusative, though this is often invisible in a phrase such as um acht Uhr.

How It Works

The core patterns

Meaning	German pattern	Typical use	Example
at a clock time	um + time	exact or scheduled times	um 8:30 Uhr
on a day or date	am + day/date	weekdays, dates, many parts of the day	am Dienstag
in a larger named period	im + period	months, seasons; often years	im September
from ... to/until	von ... bis	beginning and end of a range	von neun bis fünf
since/for, continuing now	seit + dative	a starting point or elapsed period	seit Montag
ago; before	vor + dative	time before now or before another point	vor zwei Tagen
after	nach + dative	time following an event	nach dem Essen

um for clock times

Use um when answering “At what time?” with a specific clock time:

• um acht Uhr — at eight o’clock
• um halb zehn — at half past nine (literally “half [toward] ten”)
• um 14:30 Uhr — at 2:30 p.m.
• um Mitternacht — at midnight

German um normally presents a time as a point. With a rough approximation, gegen is often better: gegen acht Uhr means “around eight.” In casual speech, so um acht also means “at around eight.”

am for days, dates, and parts of the day

Am is the contraction of an dem. It is used with weekdays, calendar dates, the weekend, and many named parts of the day:

• am Montag — on Monday
• am Wochenende — at the weekend/on the weekend
• am 3. Mai — on May 3
• am Morgen, am Vormittag, am Nachmittag, am Abend — in the morning, late morning, afternoon, evening

The major everyday exception is in der Nacht (“at night/during the night”), not am Nacht. With an adjective, the forms may look different: am frühen Morgen (“early in the morning”), because the adjective follows the dative article hidden inside am.

A recurring day often appears as an adverb ending in -s: montags means “on Mondays,” while am Montag usually identifies one particular Monday. Similarly, morgens means “in the mornings” or “every morning,” whereas am Morgen refers to a particular morning identified by the context.

im for months, seasons, and years

Im is the contraction of in dem. Use it for months and seasons:

• im Januar — in January
• im Frühling — in spring
• im Sommer — in summer
• im Winter — in winter

Years can also take im, especially when they are presented as a period: im Jahr 2026 or simply im Jahr zweitausendsechsundzwanzig. However, a bare year is very common and normally has no preposition: 2026 ziehen wir um (“We are moving in 2026”). Do not automatically copy English in before every year.

von ... bis for time ranges

Use von ... bis to mark the starting and ending points of a period:

• von Montag bis Freitag — from Monday to Friday
• von neun bis siebzehn Uhr — from nine a.m. to five p.m.
• vom 1. bis zum 10. August — from August 1 to August 10

Von always takes the dative. It contracts with dem to form vom. Plain bis is commonly used without an article before names, days, and clock times. When an article is needed, German often adds a second preposition: bis zum (bis zu dem) or bis zur (bis zu der).

For opening hours and schedules, German may omit von: Montag bis Freitag, 9 bis 18 Uhr. In a full sentence, the complete von ... bis pattern is a safe choice.

seit for a situation that still continues

Seit gives a starting point or a length of time extending from the past up to now. It takes the dative:

• seit Montag — since Monday
• seit einem Jahr — for a year
• seit drei Wochen — for three weeks

The important English–German difference is the verb tense. German normally uses the present tense when the situation is still true: Ich wohne seit zwei Jahren hier literally has “I live,” but natural English says “I have lived here for two years.” If the situation has ended, seit is not the right choice for describing its completed duration.

A clause can also follow seit in the form seitdem (“since”): Seitdem ich hier wohne, fahre ich mit dem Rad. This is a later step because it involves clause word order.

vor for “ago” and “before”

With an amount of time, vor commonly means “ago”:

• vor einer Stunde — an hour ago
• vor zwei Tagen — two days ago
• vor langer Zeit — a long time ago

With an event or time point, it means “before”: vor dem Unterricht (“before class”), vor acht Uhr (“before eight”). Vor takes the dative in these temporal uses. Notice the German word order: vor zwei Tagen corresponds to English “two days ago,” even though the preposition comes first.

nach for “after”

Use nach with the dative for a point following an event or period:

• nach dem Essen — after the meal
• nach der Arbeit — after work
• nach zwei Wochen — after two weeks
• kurz nach Mitternacht — shortly after midnight

For clock time, nach also appears when telling the time: zehn nach drei means “ten past three.” This is related, but it belongs to the wider system of telling time.

Case at a glance

The noun is the word naming a person, thing, event, or period; an article is a small word such as der, die, or das placed before it. When a temporal preposition requires the dative, the article changes accordingly.

Base noun phrase	After a dative preposition	Example
der Unterricht	dem Unterricht	nach dem Unterricht
die Arbeit	der Arbeit	vor der Arbeit
das Essen	dem Essen	nach dem Essen
die Ferien (plural)	den Ferien	nach den Ferien

Common contractions are worth memorizing as complete units:

• an dem → am: am Dienstag
• in dem → im: im Oktober
• von dem → vom: vom Montag an
• zu dem → zum, zu der → zur: bis zum Abend, bis zur Pause

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Ich komme um acht Uhr.	I’m coming at eight o’clock.	Exact clock time with um
Der Film beginnt um Viertel nach sieben.	The film starts at quarter past seven.	Spoken clock time
Am Montag habe ich frei.	I have Monday off.	Day with am
Wir treffen uns am 12. Juni.	We’re meeting on June 12.	Date with am
Am Abend lese ich oft.	I often read in the evening.	Part of the day
Das Baby ist in der Nacht oft wach.	The baby is often awake at night.	Important exception to am
Im Sommer fahren wir weg.	We go away in summer.	Season with im
Der Kurs läuft von Dienstag bis Donnerstag.	The course runs from Tuesday to Thursday.	Range with no articles
Die Praxis ist von acht bis zwölf Uhr geöffnet.	The clinic is open from eight to twelve.	Opening hours
Ich lerne seit einem Monat Deutsch.	I have been learning German for a month.	Still continuing; German present tense
Sie arbeitet seit Montag zu Hause.	She has been working from home since Monday.	Starting point continuing to now
Wir sind vor drei Tagen angekommen.	We arrived three days ago.	vor + duration = ago
Trink bitte nichts vor der Untersuchung.	Please don’t drink anything before the examination.	vor + event = before
Nach dem Essen gehen wir spazieren.	We’ll go for a walk after the meal.	nach + dative
Ruf mich nach acht Uhr an.	Call me after eight o’clock.	Time later than a clock time

Common Mistakes

Translating English “in,” “on,” and “at” directly

• Wrong: in Montag, an Juli, am acht Uhr
• Right: am Montag, im Juli, um acht Uhr
• Why: German chooses the preposition according to the type of time expression: day, larger period, or clock time.

Using a past tense after seit for a continuing situation

• Wrong: Ich habe seit zwei Jahren hier gewohnt. (if you still live here)
• Right: Ich wohne seit zwei Jahren hier.
• Why: German normally uses the present tense for an action or state that started in the past and continues now. English usually uses “have lived” or “have been living.” The wrong sentence can suggest that the period of living there is complete.

Confusing seit and vor

• Wrong: Ich bin seit zwei Tagen angekommen.
• Right: Ich bin vor zwei Tagen angekommen.
• Why: Arrival is a completed event two days ago, so use vor. Use seit for the continuing result: Ich bin seit zwei Tagen hier (“I have been here for two days”).

Saying am Nacht

• Wrong: am Nacht
• Right: in der Nacht
• Why: Most parts of the day use am, but Nacht conventionally uses in der.

Forgetting the dative article

• Wrong: nach die Arbeit, vor das Essen
• Right: nach der Arbeit, vor dem Essen
• Why: Temporal nach and vor take the dative. The article must change even though English shows no comparable change.

Putting im before every year

• Awkward: Im 2026 ziehen wir um.
• Right: 2026 ziehen wir um. / Im Jahr 2026 ziehen wir um.
• Why: A bare year generally needs no preposition. Use im Jahr if you want an explicit “in the year” phrase.

Usage Notes

German often removes the preposition when a time phrase functions directly as an adverb—that is, when the phrase itself tells you when something happens. Common examples include heute, morgen, nächste Woche, and a bare year: Nächste Woche bin ich in Berlin. English also says “next week” without in, so this pattern will sometimes feel familiar.

In schedules, signs, and headlines, words are omitted for compactness: Mo–Fr 9–18 Uhr or Montag bis Freitag geöffnet. In ordinary conversation, full forms such as von Montag bis Freitag are clearer.

Some phrases distinguish one occasion from a repeated habit. Am Sonntag arbeite ich normally refers to a particular Sunday established by context. Sonntags arbeite ich means “I work on Sundays.” Likewise, am Abend can identify a particular evening, while abends often means “in the evenings.” Context can blur this distinction, but the -s form is a useful signal of repetition.

For approximate clock times, use gegen: Der Zug kommt gegen zehn Uhr (“The train arrives around ten”). For a starting point that continues into the future, use ab: Ab Montag arbeite ich wieder (“Starting Monday, I’ll be working again”). These are common additions to the core A1 set.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following details at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Duration without a preposition

German often uses the accusative case directly to express how long something lasts:

• Ich warte eine Stunde — I wait/am waiting for an hour.
• Wir bleiben den ganzen Tag — We are staying all day.

This answers “How long?” By contrast, seit einer Stunde answers “Since when/for how long up to now?” and explicitly connects the past with the present.

Deadlines: bis, bis zu, and innerhalb

Bis can mean “until” or “by”: Bitte antworte bis Freitag (“Please reply by Friday”). Before an article, bis zu is common: bis zum Ende der Woche (“by/until the end of the week”). Innerhalb means “within” and is usually followed by the genitive—the case often used to mark a relationship similar to English “of”: innerhalb einer Woche (“within one week”).

Position between two points

Zwischen can locate an event between two times and takes the dative in this static temporal use: zwischen acht und neun Uhr. Gegen gives an approximate point, while kurz vor and kurz nach place something just before or after it.

in for future distance

German in can indicate that something will happen after a period measured from now: Der Zug fährt in zehn Minuten ab (“The train leaves in ten minutes”). Compare:

German	Meaning
vor zehn Minuten	ten minutes ago
seit zehn Minuten	for the past ten minutes, still continuing
in zehn Minuten	ten minutes from now
nach zehn Minuten	after ten minutes, relative to a stated event

The distinction between in and nach depends on the reference point. In zehn Minuten is normally measured from now; nach zehn Minuten describes what follows ten minutes after another event: Nach zehn Minuten kam der Bus (“After ten minutes, the bus came”).

Clauses instead of noun phrases

Prepositions normally introduce a noun phrase such as nach dem Essen. When the time relation connects whole actions, German often uses conjunctions—linking words that introduce a clause—with different word order: bevor ich esse (“before I eat”), nachdem ich gegessen habe (“after I ate/have eaten”), and seitdem ich hier wohne (“since I have lived here”). These belong to later study of subordinate clauses, where the conjugated verb generally moves to the end.

Practice Tips

1. Build a seven-column calendar. Add one appointment to each day and say it aloud with am and um: Am Mittwoch habe ich um zehn Uhr einen Termin. This combines the day and clock-time patterns naturally.
2. Make a three-part timeline. Write one true sentence with vor, one with seit, and one with future in: Vor einem Jahr ..., Seit drei Monaten ..., In zwei Wochen .... Check whether the seit sentence is still true now.
3. Learn chunks, not isolated prepositions. Keep cards for am Montag, im Winter, vor der Arbeit, and nach dem Essen. Include the article so that the dative form becomes automatic.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Accusative Case (Articles) — helps explain article changes after prepositions and duration phrases.
• Next step: Numbers and Time — develops clock times used after um, vor, and nach.