This is the seasonal companion to talking about the weather: there you met the everyday "it's cold / it's raining" core, and here we widen it to the calendar — naming the four seasons, saying when something happens "in spring / in winter," and reporting the sky and the thermometer. The grammar payoff is concentrated: seasons "in X" use a bare instrumental with no preposition at all (зимо́й, not в зиму́), precipitation literally *"goes" (Идёт снег), and the sky is described with subjectless predicatives (Со́лнечно — one word, no "it"). Each pattern below comes with the form that makes it work.
The four seasons and "in [season]"
The nouns are весна́ (spring), ле́то (summer), о́сень (autumn/fall, feminine -ь), and зима́ (winter). To say in a season — the single most useful thing you'll do with them — Russian does not use a preposition. Instead it freezes the noun in the instrumental case and that form means "in/during": весно́й, ле́том, о́сенью, зимо́й. There is no "в" or "на" in front. This is the same time-instrumental you see in у́тром ("in the morning") and но́чью ("at night") — see instrumental of time and manner.
| Season (nom.) | "in [season]" (instrumental) | English |
|---|---|---|
| весна́ | весно́й | in (the) spring |
| ле́то | ле́том | in (the) summer |
| о́сень | о́сенью | in (the) autumn / fall |
| зима́ | зимо́й | in (the) winter |
Зимо́й у нас о́чень хо́лодно, до ми́нус три́дцати.
In winter it's very cold here, down to minus thirty. — зимо́й = bare instrumental, no preposition.
Ле́том мы обы́чно е́здим на мо́ре.
In summer we usually go to the seaside. — ле́том = 'in summer', instrumental.
Весно́й здесь всё цветёт.
In spring everything here is in bloom. — весно́й, the frozen instrumental.
О́сенью ра́но темне́ет.
In autumn it gets dark early. — о́сенью (instrumental) + темне́ет, an impersonal weather verb.
The phrase времена́ го́да means "the seasons" (literally "the times of the year": вре́мя го́да in the singular, "a time of year"). To ask which season someone prefers: Како́е вре́мя го́да ты бо́льше всего́ лю́бишь?
Како́е твоё люби́мое вре́мя го́да?
What's your favourite season? — вре́мя го́да, 'time of year'; the whole set is времена́ го́да.
Rain and snow: precipitation "goes"
To say it's raining or snowing, Russian makes the precipitation itself the subject and runs it with the verb идти́ ("to go" on foot — but here used for falling weather). So Идёт дождь is literally "Rain goes," and Идёт снег is "Snow goes." It feels strange to English speakers, but the logic is consistent: rain and snow move downward, so the unidirectional motion verb идти́ fits. (For the идти́ / ходи́ть motion pair generally, see идти́ vs ходи́ть.)
| Russian | Literal | English |
|---|---|---|
| Идёт дождь. | "Rain goes." | It's raining. |
| Идёт снег. | "Snow goes." | It's snowing. |
| Шёл дождь. | "Rain went." | It was raining. |
| Идёт си́льный дождь. | "Strong rain goes." | It's raining hard. |
Возьми́ зо́нтик — на у́лице идёт дождь.
Take an umbrella — it's raining outside. — Идёт дождь, 'rain goes' = 'it's raining'.
Всю ночь шёл снег, и сейча́с всё бе́лое.
It snowed all night, and now everything's white. — шёл снег (past of идёт снег).
Ка́жется, начина́ется дождь.
It looks like it's starting to rain. — начина́ется ('starts') with the rain as subject.
Describing the sky: subjectless predicatives
The state of the sky is reported with single predicative adverbs — со́лнечно, па́смурно, я́сно — used with no subject and no "it." Just like Хо́лодно on the weather page, the bare word is the whole sentence. There is nothing for English "it" to attach to, because Russian impersonal sentences have no subject at all (see predicative adverbs).
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| Со́лнечно. | It's sunny. |
| Па́смурно. | It's overcast / cloudy. |
| Я́сно. | It's clear. |
| Ве́трено. | It's windy. |
| Тума́нно. | It's foggy. |
Сего́дня я́сно и со́лнечно — пойдём гуля́ть!
Today it's clear and sunny — let's go for a walk! — both я́сно and со́лнечно are subjectless.
С утра́ па́смурно и ве́трено.
Since morning it's been overcast and windy. — па́смурно, ве́трено: no 'it', no verb.
На у́лице тума́нно, веди́ маши́ну осторо́жно.
It's foggy outside, drive carefully. — тума́нно is the whole weather clause.
To put these in the past or future, add the neuter бы́ло / бу́дет: Вчера́ бы́ло со́лнечно ("Yesterday it was sunny"), За́втра бу́дет па́смурно ("Tomorrow it'll be overcast"). The verb is always neuter singular because there's no subject to agree with.
Temperature, warm, and cold
Temperature uses гра́дус ("degree"), and after a number it goes into the genitive in the familiar counting pattern (see genitive after quantity): 1 → гра́дус, 2–4 → гра́дуса, 5+ → гра́дусов. Above zero you can add тепла́ ("of warmth"); below zero use ми́нус: ми́нус де́сять ("minus ten"). And "it's warm / cold" are the predicatives Тепло́ / Хо́лодно — again subjectless.
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| плюс два́дцать пять гра́дусов | plus twenty-five degrees |
| ми́нус де́сять (гра́дусов) | minus ten (degrees) |
| де́сять гра́дусов тепла́ | ten degrees above zero ("of warmth") |
| Тепло́. / Жа́рко. | It's warm. / It's hot. |
| Хо́лодно. / Прохла́дно. | It's cold. / It's chilly. |
Сего́дня плюс два́дцать пять — наконе́ц-то тепло́!
Today it's plus twenty-five — finally it's warm! — гра́дусов is dropped colloquially; тепло́ is subjectless.
У́тром бы́ло ми́нус пять, а днём ста́ло прохла́дно.
In the morning it was minus five, and by afternoon it turned chilly. — ми́нус пять; прохла́дно with neuter ста́ло.
Не выходи́ без ку́ртки, на у́лице хо́лодно.
Don't go out without a jacket, it's cold outside. — хо́лодно, the bare predicative.
Asking and forecasting
To ask what it's like out, use Кака́я сего́дня пого́да? ("What's the weather today?") — пого́да ("weather") is feminine, so the question word is кака́я. For tomorrow's forecast, Кака́я бу́дет пого́да за́втра? The verb обеща́ют ("they promise") is the idiomatic way to report a forecast: Обеща́ют дождь ("They're forecasting rain", literally "they promise rain"), with the impersonal "they" and the precipitation in the accusative.
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| Кака́я сего́дня пого́да? | What's the weather like today? |
| Кака́я бу́дет пого́да за́втра? | What will the weather be tomorrow? |
| Обеща́ют дождь. | They're forecasting rain. |
| Си́льный ве́тер. | A strong wind. |
Кака́я сего́дня пого́да? — Прохла́дно, но со́лнечно.
What's the weather like today? — Chilly but sunny. — кака́я agrees with feminine пого́да.
На за́втра обеща́ют снег с дождём.
For tomorrow they're forecasting sleet. — обеща́ют ('they promise') = forecast; снег с дождём ('snow with rain').
За́втра бу́дет тепле́е, чем сего́дня.
Tomorrow will be warmer than today. — тепле́е ('warmer'), the comparative of тепло́.
Common Mistakes
❌ В зиму́ здесь о́чень хо́лодно.
No preposition for seasons — 'in winter' is the bare instrumental зимо́й, not в + accusative.
✅ Зимо́й здесь о́чень хо́лодно.
In winter it's very cold here. — bare instrumental зимо́й.
❌ Сего́дня дождь идёт он.
Don't add a pronoun — дождь IS the subject; 'it's raining' is just Идёт дождь.
✅ Сего́дня идёт дождь.
It's raining today. — precipitation as subject, no extra 'it'.
❌ Сего́дня оно́ со́лнечно.
Subjectless — со́лнечно takes NO subject and no 'it'. Just Со́лнечно.
✅ Сего́дня со́лнечно.
It's sunny today. — bare predicative, no subject.
❌ два́дцать пять гра́дус
Counting error — after 5+ (and 25) the noun is genitive plural гра́дусов; after 2–4 it's гра́дуса.
✅ два́дцать пять гра́дусов
twenty-five degrees — genitive plural after 25.
❌ Вчера́ со́лнечно.
For the past you need the neuter бы́ло: there's no subject for the verb to agree with, so it's always neuter singular.
✅ Вчера́ бы́ло со́лнечно.
Yesterday it was sunny. — neuter бы́ло + predicative.
Key Takeaways
- Seasons "in X" = bare instrumental, NO preposition: весно́й, ле́том, о́сенью, зимо́й. Saying в зиму́ is the classic error.
- Precipitation "goes": Идёт дождь / снег ("rain/snow goes"); past tracks the subject's gender (шёл дождь, шёл снег, была́ гроза́).
- The sky is subjectless: Со́лнечно, Па́смурно, Я́сно, Ве́трено — one word, no "it," no present-tense verb.
- Temperature: гра́дус counts like any noun (гра́дус / гра́дуса / гра́дусов); ми́нус де́сять, де́сять гра́дусов тепла́.
- Past/future of impersonals uses neuter бы́ло / бу́дет: Вчера́ бы́ло хо́лодно.
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- Talking About the WeatherA2 — Everyday weather phrases and the grammar behind them: subjectless predicatives (Хо́лодно, Жа́рко, Прохла́дно) with no 'it', precipitation as a moving subject (Идёт дождь / снег — literally 'rain/snow goes'), impersonal weather verbs (Темне́ет, Похолода́ло, Моро́зит), temperatures in the genitive (де́сять гра́дусов тепла́), asking Кака́я сего́дня пого́да?, and seasons in the bare instrumental (зимо́й, ле́том) with no preposition.
- Instrumental for Time of Day, Seasons, and MannerA2 — 'In the morning', 'in summer', 'at night' are BARE instrumentals in Russian — у́тром, ле́том, но́чью — with NO preposition. Times of day (у́тром, днём, ве́чером, но́чью) and seasons (весно́й, ле́том, о́сенью, зимо́й) take the plain instrumental for 'in/at/during'. So does manner: говори́ть шёпотом (in a whisper), идти́ бы́стрым ша́гом (at a brisk pace), е́хать ско́рым по́ездом (by express train). These are frozen, adverbialised instrumentals — Russian treats the time or manner as the 'means' by which something happens, so 'in winter' is one word, зимо́й, never *в зиме.
- Идти vs Ходить (Going on Foot)A2 — The single most frequent motion pair in Russian. ИДТИ́ (unidirectional) is a trip on foot in progress toward one goal — Я иду́ домо́й ('I'm on my way home') — and covers the planned near future (За́втра я иду́ в теа́тр). ХОДИ́ТЬ (multidirectional) covers habits, round trips, general walking ability, and 'attend' — Я хожу́ в спортза́л три ра́за в неде́лю. Plus the idioms идёт carries: Дождь идёт, Вре́мя идёт, Фильм идёт.
- Predicative Adverbs (the 'Category of State')B1 — The -о words that act as the PREDICATE of a subjectless sentence: Мне хо́лодно (I'm cold), Здесь ти́хо (it's quiet here), На у́лице темно́ (it's dark outside). The experiencer, if there is one, is in the DATIVE — there is no nominative subject. This is the слова́ катего́рии состоя́ния (category of state). Modal predicatives на́до, ну́жно, мо́жно, нельзя́, пора́, жаль belong to the same family. Past and future use frozen neuter бы́ло / бу́дет (Мне бы́ло хо́лодно). They look identical to manner adverbs (Он говори́т ти́хо) but do a completely different grammatical job.
- Genitive After Quantity WordsA2 — мно́го, ма́ло, немно́го, не́сколько, ско́лько, сто́лько, бо́льше, ме́ньше all govern the genitive: genitive PLURAL for things you can count (мно́го книг, ско́лько люде́й) and genitive SINGULAR for mass/abstract nouns (мно́го воды́, ма́ло вре́мени). Measures behave the same (килогра́мм я́блок, буты́лка вина́, ча́шка ко́фе). The count/mass split — invisible in English's much/many — decides singular vs plural.