fuyu wa neru mae ni kuriimu o nuru you ni shite imasu.

In winter, I try to put on cream before going to bed.

Breakdown of fuyu wa neru mae ni kuriimu o nuru you ni shite imasu.

• は: topic particle
• を: direct object particle
• に: time particle
• 冬ふゆ: winter

Questions & Answers about fuyu wa neru mae ni kuriimu o nuru you ni shite imasu.

Why is it 冬は and not 冬に?

冬は uses は to set winter as the topic: as for winter or in winter.

So the sentence has a nuance like:

• As for winter, I make a point of applying cream before bed.

Using は can also imply a mild contrast, such as:

• In winter I do this
• maybe in other seasons I do not, or not as much

If you said 冬に, that would simply mark winter as a time when something happens, but 冬は sounds more natural here because the speaker is talking about a seasonal habit.

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Why is there no subject like I in the sentence?

Japanese often leaves out the subject when it is obvious from context.

In this sentence, しています strongly suggests the speaker is talking about their own habit, so I is understood naturally. A full version could be:

• 私は冬は寝る前にクリームをぬるようにしています。

But this sounds more explicit than necessary. In normal Japanese, dropping 私は is very common.

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What does 寝る前に mean exactly?