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Saying 'in the morning', 'at night' and 'at noon' in Italian

English uses a mix of prepositions for parts of the day: in the morning, in the evening, but at night and at noon. Italian has its own mix, and it does not map onto the English one. With words like mattina, sera and notte you say di mattina or simply la mattina. With clock points like mezzogiorno and mezzanotte you use a with no article at all.

English speakers tend to translate word for word and produce in la mattina or nella notte. These sound odd in everyday speech. The fix is to learn each part of the day together with its usual partner, as a small fixed phrase.

Word list
mattinafA1 morning di mattina / la mattina = in the morning mezzanottefA1 midnight a mezzanotte = at midnight mezzogiornomA1 noon a mezzogiorno = at noon nottefA1 night di notte / la notte = at night pomeriggiomA1 afternoon il pomeriggio / di pomeriggio / nel pomeriggio = in the afternoon serafA1 evening di sera / la sera = in the evening mattinomA2 morning al mattino / di mattino = in the morning albafB1 dawn all'alba = at dawn sorgere del solemB1 sunrise al sorgere del sole = at sunrise tramontomB1 sunset al tramonto = at sunset crepuscolomC1 dusk al crepuscolo = at dusk
How it works

There are three patterns to know.

  • di + part of the day, no article: di mattina, di sera, di notte. This is the general or typical time something happens.
  • definite article + part of the day, no preposition: la mattina, il pomeriggio, la sera. This is very common for habits, much like English on Mondays.
  • a + a precise moment: a mezzogiorno, a mezzanotte, and with an article all'alba, al tramonto.

For habits, di mattina and la mattina are usually interchangeable. Rule of thumb: stretches of the day take di or the article, single points in time take a.

Di mattina bevo un caffè e a mezzogiorno pranzo.
(In the morning I drink a coffee and at noon I have lunch.)
Bevo sempre un caffè la mattina.
(I always drink a coffee in the morning.)
The words

Pomeriggio is masculine, so its article is il: il pomeriggio. You can also say di pomeriggio. For something happening in one particular afternoon, nel pomeriggio is also very natural.

Il pomeriggio vado in palestra.
(In the afternoon I go to the gym.)
Ci vediamo domani nel pomeriggio.
(See you tomorrow in the afternoon.)

Sera works exactly like mattina: di sera or la sera.

La sera guardiamo la TV.
(In the evening we watch TV.)

Notte gives di notte or la notte. English says at night, but Italian never uses a here.

Non mi piace guidare di notte.
(I don't like driving at night.)

Mezzogiorno and mezzanotte are moments on the clock, so they take plain a, just like alle tre. No article, even though mezzanotte is feminine.

Il negozio chiude a mezzanotte.
(The shop closes at midnight.)

Alba and tramonto are also moments, but they keep the article, so a combines with it: all'alba, al tramonto.

Siamo partiti all'alba.
(We left at dawn.)
Facciamo una passeggiata sulla spiaggia al tramonto.
(We take a walk on the beach at sunset.)
Watch out

For this morning or this evening, Italian uses one short word instead of a preposition: stamattina, stasera, stanotte. Note that stanotte can mean both tonight and last night, and the context decides. With other days, just add the noun: domani mattina, ieri sera.

Stasera mangiamo fuori.
(This evening we're eating out.)
Ho dormito male stanotte.
(I slept badly last night.)

Other things to keep in mind:

  • Avoid nella mattina and nella sera for everyday times. Use la mattina, di mattina or stamattina.
  • In speech you will also hear alla mattina and alla sera. They are fine colloquially, but the forms above are safer.
  • You may meet the masculine form mattino, especially in al mattino and di mattino. It means the same thing.
  • Do not add an article to mezzogiorno or mezzanotte: a mezzogiorno, never al mezzogiorno.
Summary

For a stretch of the day, use di without an article (di mattina, di sera, di notte) or just the article for habits (la mattina, il pomeriggio). For a precise moment, use a: a mezzogiorno, a mezzanotte, and with the article all'alba, al tramonto. For this morning or this evening, use stamattina and stasera.