en la manana vs. de la manana

Question

I was always taught to use "de la mañana" when talking about a specific time and that "en la mañana" was simple "Spanglish" and grammatically poor Spanish.

I have a ton of students coming from the same teacher and they all write answers such as: A las seis en la mañana Mariana se cepilla los dientes.

A las siete y media en la mañana voy a la escuela.

I do not want to mark them incorrect if this is an acceptable phrase but I want to have a solid explanation for it.

Can anyone explain it for me?

Thank you!

I found this in another post. Does this sum it up correctly? - bjlehman, Jan 15, 2016

Son las cinco de la mañana (specific time) Normalmente, viene por la mañana (general time) Mañana trabajo en la noche (specific day) - bjlehman, Jan 15, 2016

Please fill out your profile and give your language levels. - ray76, Jan 15, 2016

I gave you a vote, but please edit your profile and use the dropdown menu by English and Language Proficiency to reveal you levels as Ray76 has requested. Thanks. - Jubilado, Jan 15, 2016

Answer 1

You got it right. If you have any edition of the college textbook "Panorama, introducción a la lengua española," it's right in the middle of the first chapter.

"De la mañana-tarde-noche are the Spanish equivalents of the AM PM business. Whereas English speakers divide the day up into two segments, the Spanish divide it into three.

As far as "en la mañana/tarde/noche," etc. This is incorrect, but sooo many Spanish speakers use it so it's becoming acceptable. It has no reference to clock time it's just "in the morning, in the afternoon, evening."

The proper way is "POR" la mañana, tarde, noche.

I do teach college level Spanish and I'm Spanish.

Hola Dani the English divides the day into 4. :) - ian-hill, Jan 15, 2016

Hi Daniela! First, thanks for you answer. But I want to make it sure. So "whenever" we want to talk about tomorrow should we always use de la mañana ? If not, can you give me some examples about it to specfify. Thank you! :) - AndréYuhai, Jan 15, 2016

Answer 2

I'm on my phone now and cant get tildes in a comment so I'm going to use the answer box.

"Mañana, by itself means "tomorrow" and "la mañana" means "the morning".

This makes expressIons like "mañana por la mañana" possIble, which means "tomorrow morning."

So you can also have "mañana por la tarde/noche...tomorrow afternoon/evening. If you need more, let me know. I'll be back at my computer later

ah thanks! That makes sense :) - AndréYuhai, Jan 15, 2016

Answer 3

Well, my version of this is that from what you hear and how it is written, there is a difference.

A las seis de la tarde. = at 6 pm

A las seis. En la tarde. = At six. Afternoon/evening

Does it help/make sense?

Thanks! ^^ - AndréYuhai, Jan 16, 2016

You're welcome. - chileno, Jan 16, 2016