Мы собираемся посетить выставку в пятницу.

We are going to visit the exhibition on Friday.

Breakdown of Мы собираемся посетить выставку в пятницу.

• мы: we
• посетить: to visit
• в: on
• выставка: the exhibition
• собираться: to be going to
• пятница: Friday

Questions & Answers about Мы собираемся посетить выставку в пятницу.

What does the verb собираться mean in this sentence and how does it function grammatically?

Here собираться is part of a periphrastic future construction (собираться + infinitive) that expresses a planned action, similar to English going to. It does not mean “to gather” here. Grammatically, you conjugate собираться for the subject (мы – собираемся) and follow it with an infinitive (посетить).

Why is посетить used here instead of посещать?

посетить is perfective, indicating a single, completed action (“to visit once”). посещать is imperfective, used for habitual or repeated visits. Since this is a one-time plan for Friday, the perfective посетить is appropriate.

Why is there no preposition before выставку?

выставку is the direct object of посетить, so it takes the accusative case without any preposition. If you used a verb like пойти, you would say пойти на выставку (на + accusative), but посетить governs its object directly.

Why do we say в пятницу instead of just пятницу?

To express time “on Friday,” Russian normally uses в + Accusative for days of the week. Saying simply пятницу without в would look like a direct object and might confuse the listener.

Can we omit the pronoun мы in this sentence?

Yes. Russian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending (собираемся – 1st person plural) already shows “we.” Including мы adds emphasis or clarity but isn’t required.

Could the word order be changed without altering the meaning?

Absolutely. Russian has flexible word order. You could say:
• В пятницу мы собираемся посетить выставку (emphasizes WHEN)
• Мы в пятницу собираемся посетить выставку (slightly less common but still fine)
The core meaning stays the same.

What’s the difference between собираться and хотеть when expressing plans or desires?

собираться + infinitive conveys a concrete plan or intention in the near future (“we’re going to visit…”). хотеть + infinitive simply expresses a desire or wish (“we want to visit…”), without implying that preparations or plans have been made.