# In German, what is the distinction between im/am/beim Morgengrauen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979 "2019-09-10T13:11:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/1 "2019-09-10T13:11:57Z")
Hi In German, what is the distinction between im/am/beim Morgengrauen? They all seem to mean ‘at’. Are 'im Morgengrauen" and “am Morgengrauen” at the moment of sun-up? Is “beim Morgengrauen” during dawn/sun-up? I have seen all three “im/am/beim Morgengrauen” used online. I look forward to your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/2 "2019-09-10T13:25:00Z")
There is no clear distinction of meaning. “Im” is the most usual preposition; “am” and “beim” are much less frequent - perhaps there is an influence of region or period. _Morgengrauen_ is the earliest part of dawn, with the barest hint of sunlight. Also sometimes used figuratively for the physiologically lowest point of the day, at about that time. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/3 "2019-09-10T13:32:50Z")
Maybe this is entirely specious, but to me “im” carries an overtone that the rest of the sentence is more concerned with some event or person in place and location, 'am" with a point in time, and “beim” with the process of growing light. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/4 "2019-09-10T13:33:26Z")
Think about it the way some Americans say they are “in line” but others say they are “on line.” ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/5 "2019-09-10T14:53:05Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Maybe this is entirely specious, but to me “im” carries an overtone that the rest of the sentence is more concerned with some event or person in place and location, 'am" with a point in time, and “beim” with the process of growing light. Superb! Thank you PatrickLondon. Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/6 "2019-09-10T15:05:15Z")
‘Im’, ‘am’, and ‘beim’ are actually contractions of ‘in dem’, ‘an dem’, and ‘bei dem’, where ‘dem’ is the dative singular article. ‘In’, like in English, then carries a connotation of containment—inside, within, perhaps also during when applied to something of temporal extension, like dawn (‘Morgengrauen’). ‘An’, on the other hand, in a spatial case, would connote proximity, close to English ‘at’, also to denote a point in time (‘at dawn’). ‘Bei’, to me, is similar—compare ‘at the’ or ‘by the’, for a rough sense of the relation between ‘an’ und ‘bei’, but in a temporal sense, connoting something like co-occurrence. So ‘im Morgengrauen’ would be something like ‘during dawn’, while I’d understand ‘am Morgengrauen’ to mean something like ‘upon dawn’, and ‘beim Morgengrauen’ as ‘while it is dawning’. But that’s possibly a little idiosyncratic. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/7 "2019-09-10T15:11:03Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > . . . Also sometimes used figuratively for the physiologically lowest point of the day, at about that time. Ah, Morgengroan. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-german-what-is-the-distinction-between-im-am-beim-morgengrauen/839979/8 "2019-09-10T15:11:44Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > ‘Im’, ‘am’, and ‘beim’ are actually contractions of ‘in dem’, ‘an dem’, and ‘bei dem’, where ‘dem’ is the dative singular article. ‘In’, like in English, then carries a connotation of containment—inside, within, perhaps also during when applied to something of temporal extension, like dawn (‘Morgengrauen’). ‘An’, on the other hand, in a spatial case, would connote proximity, close to English ‘at’, also to denote a point in time (‘at dawn’). ‘Bei’, to me, is similar—compare ‘at the’ or ‘by the’, for a rough sense of the relation between ‘an’ und ‘bei’, but in a temporal sense, connoting something like co-occurrence. > > So ‘im Morgengrauen’ would be something like ‘during dawn’, while I’d understand ‘am Morgengrauen’ to mean something like ‘upon dawn’, and ‘beim Morgengrauen’ as ‘while it is dawning’. But that’s possibly a little idiosyncratic. Thank you Half Man Wit. I think you’re spot on.