German Time Prepositions: am, um, im
After this lesson you can say when something happens without guessing the preposition.
Do this first: Telling time
German Time Prepositions: am, um, im
Three little words carry every time expression: am for days, um for the clock, im for months and seasons. And some words take nothing at all.
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Kulturnotiz
Getting um right matters practically, because German appointments are made to the minute and kept to it. Um 8 Uhr means 8:00, not "around eight" — there is no cultural buffer built in. If you mean approximately, you have to say so: gegen acht (around eight) or so gegen acht (roughly around eight). Saying um when you mean gegen will have someone waiting for you.
Common questions
+What is the quickest way to remember these?
Day → am. Clock → um. Month → im. Three pairings, no overlap, and they cover almost every time expression you will need at A1.
+Why is it im and not in for months?
im is a contraction of in + dem. German contracts this pair automatically, so in dem Januar becomes im Januar and the bare in never appears.
+Are there time words that take no preposition?
Yes — heute, morgen, gestern, übermorgen, nächste Woche, letztes Jahr. These stand alone: Heute arbeite ich, never am heute.
+What about "at night"?
The one exception to the am pattern for parts of the day: it is in der Nacht, not am Nacht. Every other part of the day takes am.