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Questions & Answers about Зимой я редко езжу на машине.
Why is Зимой in the instrumental case, and what role does it play here?
In Russian, seasons used as adverbial time expressions (like in winter) take the instrumental case without a preposition. So Зимой is the instrumental singular of зима, acting as an adverbial modifier of time meaning in winter.
Why do we use ездить instead of ехать in this sentence?
Ездить is the imperfective, multidirectional verb of motion, used for habitual or repeated actions. Ехать is the imperfective unidirectional form for a single, one‐way trip. Since the sentence describes a habitual action (“I rarely drive”), we choose ездить and say я езжу (“I go/drive regularly”).
What’s the difference between ездить на машине and водить машину? They both translate as “to drive a car,” right?
Not quite. Ездить на машине means to travel by car (focus on the means of transport). Водить машину means to operate/drive a car (focus on the skill or act of driving itself). So you’d use ездить на машине for “I go to work by car” and водить машину for “I’m learning how to drive.”
Why is на used with машине, and why is машине in the prepositional case?
When talking about traveling by a vehicle (bus, train, car, etc.), Russian uses на + prepositional case. Hence на машине literally means by car. The noun машина takes the prepositional ending -е here.
What does редко modify, and why is it placed before езжу?
Редко is an adverb of frequency modifying the verb езжу. In Russian, adverbs of frequency usually precede the verb they modify, so я редко езжу (“I rarely go/drive”).
Why is the verb ездить conjugated as езжу for “I”?
Ездить is an irregular second-conjugation verb. Its first-person singular ending is -жу, giving я езжу. Other forms follow the pattern: ты ездишь, он ездит, мы ездим, вы ездите, они ездят.
Can we drop я in Зимой я редко езжу на машине?
Yes. Russian is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun я can be omitted when the verb ending clearly indicates the subject. Зимой редко езжу на машине is perfectly natural and still means “I rarely drive in winter.”
Could we say Зимой я редко еду на машине instead?
No, because еду (from ехать) refers to a single, underway trip—“I am (now) going by car.” For habitual actions like “I rarely drive,” you need the multidirectional verb ездить, not ехать.