Learn Hardcore Russian: Зимой я снимаю пальто и пью горячий чай. - In winter I take off my coat and drink hot tea.

Зимой is the instrumental singular of зима, used adverbially to mean “in winter/during winter.”
Russian commonly uses the instrumental with no preposition for seasons and parts of the day: зимой, летом, утром, вечером.
You cannot say в зимой; в зиме is not used to express time.
A stylistic/poetic variant is зимою; in everyday speech зимой is more common.

Could I say в зиму instead? When do prepositions appear with seasons?

В зиму can mean “into the winter season” (a transition) and is rare; it doesn’t mean the same as plain “in winter.”
To say “in winter,” use зимой. If you need another “in,” it will attach to a different noun: зимой в Москве.
To specify a particular winter: зимой 2025 года (“in the winter of 2025”).

Why are the verbs in the present tense if this describes a habit?

Russian uses the present tense of imperfective verbs for habitual/repeated actions, especially with time words like зимой. So снимаю and пью mean “I (usually) do.”

Is снимаю the right verb for taking clothes off? How does it differ from снять and раздеваться?

снимать (impf.) = “to take off” a specific item: снимаю пальто.
Perfective partner: снять (“to take off once”): я снял/сняла пальто.
раздеваться/раздеться = “to undress” (in general), not tied to a specific garment.

Why doesn’t пальто change form after снимаю?

пальто is an indeclinable neuter noun; its form is the same in all cases and numbers.
It’s a direct object here (accusative), but the form remains пальто.
Adjectives still agree: новое/тёплое пальто.

What are the genders of чай and пальто, and how does that affect agreement?

What case is горячий чай? Why not горячего чая/чаю?

After пить, the direct object is normally in the accusative. For inanimate masculine nouns, accusative = nominative, hence горячий чай.
A genitive/partitive can be used to mean “some tea,” especially with выпить/попить: выпить/попить горячего чая or colloquially горячего чаю. With plain пить, горячий чай is the neutral choice.

How do you conjugate пить? What’s going on with пью and the soft sign?

Present: я пью, ты пьёшь, он/она пьёт, мы пьём, вы пьёте, они пьют. Past: пил, пила, пило, пили.
The soft sign (ь) in пь- shows a soft consonant. The ю/ё endings are regular here.
Note: ё is always stressed; in print it may appear as е.

What are the perfective partners to describe a single completed action?

снимать → снять: “to take off (once).” Example: Я снял/сняла пальто.
пить → выпить (“to drink up”) or попить (“to drink for a while”). Example: Я выпил/выпила горячего чаю.

Can I change the word order? For example, Я зимой снимаю… or Я снимаю … зимой?

Yes. All are grammatical:
- Зимой я снимаю… sets the time frame first.
- Я зимой снимаю… keeps the subject first.
- Я снимаю … зимой puts extra focus on the time at the end.
The meaning stays, with slight nuances of emphasis.

Do I have to say я, or can I drop the pronoun?

You can omit it: Зимой снимаю пальто и пью горячий чай.
Verb endings show person/number. Including я adds clarity or emphasis but isn’t mandatory.

Why is there no comma before и?

И links two predicates with the same subject (я): снимаю and пью. Russian does not use a comma in this simple coordination.

Why is it горячий and not жаркий for tea?

горячий = hot to the touch/temperature (food, drinks, objects): горячий чай.
жаркий = hot weather/air/environment: жаркий день. Not used for tea.

Where does the stress fall in these words?

Are there articles in Russian? How do I know if it’s “a coat” or “the coat”?

Russian has no articles. Definiteness is inferred from context, word order, or determiners like этот/эта (e.g., это пальто = “this/the coat”).

Is зимою also correct?

Yes. зимою is an older/poetic instrumental variant of зимой. Зимой is standard in everyday speech.

Can I say выпиваю горячий чай instead of пью?

выпивать (impf. of выпить) often implies habitually “drinking up” a whole serving and can carry a nuance of alcohol. For neutral “I drink (tea),” пью is better. You might use выпиваю to stress completion or routine quantity: По утрам выпиваю чашку чая.