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Using 'im' with months and seasons

When you want to talk about an event happening in a specific month or season, English keeps things simple. You just use the word "in" followed by the time period, like "in May" or "in winter". German also uses the preposition in, but it adds a mandatory definite article to the mix.

In German, all months and seasons are masculine nouns. When answering the question "when?", these time expressions require the dative case. As a result, the preposition in combines with the masculine article dem to form the short word im. You will need im every time you use words like Januar, Sommer, or Herbst to state when something occurs.

Word list
AprilmA1 April im April = in April AugustmA1 August im August = in August DezembermA1 December im Dezember = in December FebruarmA1 February im Februar = in February FrühlingmA1 spring im Frühling = in spring HerbstmA1 autumn im Herbst = in autumn, fall JanuarmA1 January im Januar = in January JulimA1 July im Juli = in July JunimA1 June im Juni = in June MaimA1 May im Mai = in May MärzmA1 March im März = in March NovembermA1 November im November = in November OktobermA1 October im Oktober = in October SeptembermA1 September im September = in September SommermA1 summer im Sommer = in summer WintermA1 winter im Winter = in winter
The seasons

The four seasons in German are Frühling, Sommer, Herbst, and Winter. To say that an action happens during one of these times, simply place im right before the season.

Die Blumen blühen im Frühling.
(The flowers bloom in spring.)
Wir fahren im Sommer nach Italien.
(We are driving to Italy in summer.)
Die Blätter fallen im Herbst.
(The leaves fall in autumn.)
Im Winter wird es früh dunkel.
(It gets dark early in winter.)

You might also hear German speakers use the word Frühjahr as another term for spring. Even though this noun is neuter instead of masculine, the neuter dative article is also dem. This means it still uses the exact same im pattern.

The months

All twelve months of the year follow the exact same rule. Whether you are planning a trip in April, taking a break in August, or celebrating in Dezember, you must use im.

Mein Geburtstag ist im Januar.
(My birthday is in January.)
Im März regnet es oft.
(It rains often in March.)
Wir haben im Mai eine Prüfung.
(We have an exam in May.)
Es ist sehr heiß im Juli.
(It is very hot in July.)
Das Fest beginnt im Oktober.
(The festival begins in October.)
When to drop the preposition

There is one common situation where you do not need im. If you add an adjective to the month or season to say things like "next April" or "last winter", you often drop the preposition entirely. Instead, German uses the accusative case for the time expression without any preposition at all.

Wir heiraten nächsten April.
(We are getting married next April.)
Ich war letzten Winter oft krank.
(I was sick often last winter.)
Summary

Whenever you state when an event happens using a month or a season, remember to use im. English leaves out the article, but German requires it, shrinking in and dem into one short, essential word.