Breakdown of На выходных я люблю гулять, а потом отдыхать дома.
я
I
на
on
дома
at home
гулять
to walk
отдыхать
to relax
а
and
любить
to like
потом
then
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Russian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about На выходных я люблю гулять, а потом отдыхать дома.
What does на выходных mean, and why is выходных in this form?
на выходных means “on weekends.” The noun выходные (“days off/weekends”) appears in the prepositional plural when used with на to indicate time. Although the ending looks like the genitive plural (выходных), in this fixed time-expression it functions as the prepositional case.
Why is люблю in the present tense if weekends are in the future?
Russian uses the present tense for habitual or repeated actions, no matter when they occur. Here я люблю гулять expresses a regular pastime (you habitually like walking on weekends). Present tense doesn’t imply “right now,” but “generally/always.”
Why are the infinitives гулять and отдыхать used after люблю and потом?
After verbs of preference like любить, Russian takes an infinitive to show what you like doing: люблю гулять = “I like to walk.” Likewise, temporal adverbs such as потом (“then”) can be followed by an infinitive to indicate the next action: потом отдыхать = “then to rest.”
What is the role of а in а потом отдыхать?
The conjunction а coordinates two actions and can mean “and” or “but,” depending on context. In а потом it’s best translated as “and then” (or “but then”), linking your walking with the subsequent resting and adding a slight contrast or sequence.
Why is there a comma before а потом?
When two clauses or coordinated parts are joined by а, Russian grammar requires a comma before а. Even if the second part is an infinitive phrase without a repeated subject, the comma marks the coordination: …гулять, а потом отдыхать….
Why is дома used here without a preposition?
дома is a special adverb meaning “at home.” It doesn’t take a preposition or case ending. Instead of saying в доме, Russian normally uses дома to express “being/resting at home.”
How would you say the sentence if you wanted to talk about a one-time future action (“I will walk and then rest at home”)?
You’d switch to perfective verbs to show a single completed action. For example:
На выходных я погуляю, а потом отдохну дома.
Here погуляю (perfective of гулять) and отдохну (perfective of отдыхать) indicate you will actually do each action once.