My native language is German, and I also speak English quite well. But there is one thing that has puzzled me for years, and I still haven't found an answer. It's about the names of times during a day. I give you a list, with rough times, the German names and the English names, and then my question:
- 6:00 – 9:00 Ger: "Morgen", Engl: "morning"
- 9:00 – 11:30 Ger: "Vormittag", Engl: ?
- 11:30 – 13:30 Ger: "Mittag", Engl: "noon"
- 13:30 – 17:30 Ger: "Nachmittag", Engl: "afternoon"
- 17:30 – 23:00 Ger: "Abend", Engl: "evening"
- 23:00 – 6:00 Ger: "Nacht", Engl: "night"
The absolute times may vary for +/- 2 hours or even more, so please don't take them too serious.
My question is about the period between 9:00 and 11:30. What do you call this time in English? The literal translation of the German word "Vormittag" would be "beforenoon", but that doesn't seem to be an English word. Is there another word for this time of day?
I do believe, that you call this time "morning" too. If this is true, then how do you translate this sentence:
Maria stand bereits am Morgen auf, aber Peter erst am Vormittag.
When I try to translate it, I get:
Maria already got up in the morning, but Peter only in the morning.
I think you know what I want to express without understanding the German sentence, but I also think that you agree with me, that this English sentence doesn't really tell that Maria got up early and Peter some hours later.
Best Answer
There is indeed no word for it other than 'late morning' or similar. Also, 'lunchtime' would be more idiomatic than 'noon' for the period round midday (or, I suppose, 'dinnertime' for those who always call their midday meal 'dinner', but that's another story).
I don't speak German, but your sentence would have to be translated as something like:
Maria had been up early, but Peter didn't get up till late.