mourning vs morning

Posted by: Josef Essberger

Mourning is a time of grief; morning is a time of day

These two words are homophones: they sound exactly the same but have different meanings.

• mourning 1 (noun): a period of sorrow or grieving after the death of a loved one
• mourning 2 (noun): usually black or dark clothes worn after someone dies (though in some countries the colour may be white)
• mourn (verb): feel or show sorrow or grief for the death of someone
• morning (noun): the time between midnight and noon, especially from sunrise to noon

Example sentences

• Many people were in mourning following the death of the Queen.
• His family wore mourning for months after he passed away.
• People may choose to mourn in many different ways.
• I shall have to wake up early tomorrow morning.

---

Posted by Josef Essberger September 2022
Josef founded EnglishClub for learners and teachers of English in 1997

---

12 comments

• Luis Pizarro says:
  

  Good job! It`s very important to explain and show examples about homophones, and clarify how easy is to identify them considering the context of the sentence…. I mean, they sound exactly same; but the context could tell me which word it is

• Cristina says:
  

  The difference is almost imperceptible between the two.

• Widelyne Val says:
  

  It’s helpfull i really apeeciate it thank you so much!

• joao almeida says:
  

  really good site. I always take notes from your helpful information.
  Thank you
  best regards

• Yasinta says:
  

  thanks so much! Now I am aware to differentiate words morning and mourning.
  This site really helpful

• Aida says:
  

  Excellent you are one of the best! Thanks!

• T.Hassan Olokodana says:
  

  This is really explicit and helpful. Thank you. More of this is expected.

• Mauro says:
  

  At first glance, I thought that were more one difference between Britanic English and American English. But no.
  Very interesting and useful. Very good and thanks a lot.
  I prefer only MORNING.
  Have a nice week. Mauro.

• The King Of Love From IRAN says:
  

  Oh!
  I don’t know how to tell THANK YOU SO MUCH, dear Mr. Essberger.

  If I have learned English language, it’s because of ❤️English Club❤️.

  My wish is to meet you in real space,

• Eduardo Freitas says:
  

  I’m a teacher and the explanations about some subjects I find here are extremely important to increase my knowledge. I’m very happy to receive this information. Thanks for all.

• Paul Nguyen says:
  

  Just known this new version of dictionary recently but it is so useful to me. Thanks so much in creating this great dictionary

• Zulema Nieto says:
  

  Dear Mr Essberger
  I find this site extremely helpuful! I´m a teacher of English and I have been using your vocabulary and grammatical items in my courses at university. All the activities tried have proved to be enjoyable and useful.
  Thanks very much for this site}1
  Regards.
  Z. Nieto