There are a few reasons why they say English is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world! This is mainly because there are many words that are spelled and pronounced similarly but have different meanings. The words morning vs mourning are a prime example of that. In this post, we’ll teach you how to choose between morning or mourning with some example sentences.
Difference Between Morning vs Mourning
Just like we saw with the words greatly vs grately, homophones can be difficult to use correctly! Here are the main differences between the commonly confused words mourning & morning.
Mourning: This is a noun that refers to the grieving process or feeling of sadness. This most commonly happens after the death of a pet, relative, or pet.
- “Mark is struggling to be productive at work as he is mourning the loss of his family member.”
Morning: Most commonly used as a noun or adverb to refer to the time period between noon & midnight.
- “Mark is very busy in the afternoon so he workouts every morning.”
Takeaway: Morning refers to the early part of each day. Mourning refers to the feeling of grief.
When To Use Morning
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As we already mentioned, the word morning can be described as the time between midnight and noon or the point of the day preceding afternoon or evening. Just like the words ingrained vs engrained, these are one of the most commonly used words in the English language today.
Here are some of the activities that take place in the morning:
- Drinking a cup of coffee
- Going to school or work
- Eating breakfast
Sentence Examples
Here are some sentences demonstrating how to spell morning and use it in your writing.
- My Mother always shouts “good morning” as she gets out of bed.
- I go for a run every Tuesday morning before work.
- Mark has always been a morning person. Meaning that he thinks and works best before the evening starts.
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When To Use Mourning
On the other hand, mourning has a completely different definition than morning. This word refers to the period of sadness that occurs after a tragic event.
Here are some of the activities that result in mourning:
- Death of a friend, family member, or pet
- Tragic accident
- Death of a loved public figure
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Sentence Examples
Here are some sentences demonstrating how to spell mourning and use it in your writing.
- Steve has been mourning the loss of his dog for over a month.
- Mourning the loss of a loved one is very tough.
- Mark had to see a therapist to help him with the mourning of his family member.
Popularity Analysis
Here is a chart of Googe’s n-gram data showing the popularity of the words morning and mourning. You can see that morning is far more popular. Since the 1980s the word has been used very frequently in published writing.
Just like we saw when comparing the phrase “thank you both“, the popularity of words changes with time. Pop culture changes with the decades and that impacts the vocabulary authors use in their writing.
Frequently Asked Questions
The word mourning is derived from the Old English & Middle English term ‘murnung’. The word mourning refers to the grieving process that normally takes place after a death or sad event. For example, “Mark wore black clothing to the funeral as he was mourning the lost of a friend.”
The word morning refers to the time period before noon. More specifically, it is the time from after midnight until noon. Remember, different time zones impact when noon occurs. If you live in Philadelphia noon occurs 3 hours before people in California!
The words mourning & morning are homophones. This means that they are pronounced the exact same. In verbal conversation, it will be impossible to tell which word was used. Remember, these words have different definitions. Morning refers to the early part of the day. Mourning refers to a period of sadness that can last over a year for some people.
When you’re sad the correct word to use is mourning. Although it is pronounced the exact same as morning, it has a different meaning!
Final Thoughts
By now you should be a master of how to spell morning & how to spell mourning. As it turns out, these very similar words have completely different definitions. If you want to refer to the time period before noon, use morning. If you want to refer to a feeling of grief or sadness, use mourning. If you are struggling with this grammar rule, consider using our english grammar online check free tool to make things easy!
