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I know that the prepositional phrases "in/on the mornings", "in/on the afternoons" and "in/on the evenings" can be used as adverbials.
But I don't know whether the noun phrases "the mornings", "the afternoons" and "the evenings" can be used as adverbials too.

To find it out, I came up with the following sentences:
(1) The mornings it was raining, I went for a massage. The mornings it was sunny, I went to the beach. — I think it's correct but I'm not sure. So, is it correct?
(2) Mornings it was raining, I went for a massage. Mornings it was sunny, I went to the beach. — I think it's incorrect because these mornings are specified and, therefore, require "the" as in (1).
(3) In the mornings it was raining, I went for a massage. In the mornings it was sunny, I went to the beach. — I think it's correct and "in the mornings" means "during the mornings".
(4) On the mornings it was raining, I went for a massage. On the mornings it was sunny, I went to the beach. — I think it's correct and "on the mornings" means "on each of the mornings".

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    Probably the most natural written format retaining the parallel construction would be [On] Those mornings it was raining, I went for a massage. Those mornings it was sunny,... But it is a bit "literary". In natural conversation, you'd probably settle for On sunny mornings I went for a walk, but if it was raining I went for a massage (note that we'd normally mention the most likely / preferred alternative first). Commented Apr 12 at 13:47
  • 2 is OK. You can use "mornings" without "the" if it's a general set of times rather than a specific number of mornings. Same as with "October mornings", "alternate mornings", or other subsets of morning.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Apr 12 at 15:47

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