Каждый год я меняю телефон.

I change my phone every year.

Breakdown of Каждый год я меняю телефон.

• я: I
• мой: my
• каждый: every
• телефон: the phone
• год: the year
• менять: to change

Questions & Answers about Каждый год я меняю телефон.

Why is the verb in the present tense (меняю) when I’m talking about something I do every year?

In Russian, the present tense is routinely used to describe habitual or repeated actions. Here, меняю (I change) plus the time expression каждый год clearly indicates that it’s something you do regularly, not right now.

What case is телефон in, and why doesn’t it change its ending?

Телефон is in the accusative singular case as the direct object of менять. Because телефон is an inanimate masculine noun ending in a hard consonant, its accusative form is identical to the nominative (no ending change).

Why do we use the imperfective verb менять instead of the perfective поменять?

The imperfective aspect (менять) is used to emphasize that the action is habitual or repeated. The perfective поменять would focus on completing a single action (e.g., “I will change my phone [once]”), not on a yearly routine.

Can I say "Я меняю телефон каждый год" instead? Does word order matter?

Yes, you can. Russian word order is relatively flexible. Placing я меняю телефон before каждый год still conveys the same meaning. Starting with каждый год simply emphasizes the time frame.

Could I use ежегодно instead of каждый год?

Absolutely. Ежегодно is an adverb meaning “annually.”
– Каждый год я меняю телефон.
– Ежегодно я меняю телефон.
Both sentences are correct and mean “I change my phone every year.”