Breakdown of Я заработал немного денег в выходные.
я
I
деньги
the money
в
on
выходные
the weekend
немного
a little
заработать
to earn
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Questions & Answers about Я заработал немного денег в выходные.
Why is it "заработал" and not "зарабатывал"? What does the aspect tell me?
Заработал is perfective past, so it presents a single, completed earning event with a result. Зарабатывал is imperfective past; it describes an ongoing process or a repeated/habitual action, without emphasizing a completed result.
- Completed once: В выходные я заработал немного денег.
- Ongoing/habitual: В выходные я зарабатывал немного денег. or Я зарабатывал по выходным.
Do I need to change "заработал" if the speaker is female or if it’s plural?
Yes. Past-tense verbs agree in gender and number:
- Male speaker: я заработал
- Female speaker: я заработала
- We/they: мы/они заработали
- He/she: он заработал / она заработала
Why is it "немного денег" and not "немного деньги"?
After quantity words like немного (a little, some), Russian uses the genitive case. Деньги is a plural-only noun, and its genitive plural is денег. So you must say немного денег. (Compare: немного сахара — “a little sugar,” genitive singular.)
Can I just say "я заработал деньги"? How is that different from "немного денег"?
Я заработал деньги often suggests a definite or expected sum (“I got the money”), or at least a more concrete result. Я заработал немного денег explicitly means “I earned a small amount,” with modest, indefinite quantity. Both are grammatical; they convey different nuances.
Can I drop "немного" and say "я заработал денег"?
Yes. Я заработал денег uses the “partitive”/indefinite genitive to mean “I earned some money.” It’s similar in meaning to немного денег, slightly more neutral about the amount.
Why is "выходные" plural? Isn’t “weekend” singular in English?
Выходные literally means “days off” and is plural in Russian. It commonly refers to the weekend (Saturday and Sunday), hence the plural form. The singular выходной (день) means “a day off.”
Should I say "в выходные" or "на выходных"? Are both correct?
Both are widely used in modern Russian.
- В выходные is a bit more formal/neutral and very standard.
- На выходных is extremely common in speech and also widely accepted. In many contexts they’re interchangeable: Я заработал немного денег в выходные / на выходных.
What case is "выходные" after "в" here? Why not "в выходных"?
It’s accusative plural: в выходные. For time expressions like days/dates, Russian typically uses в + accusative (e.g., в пятницу, в субботу). В выходных (prepositional) would be wrong for “on/over the weekend.”
How do I say “this weekend,” “last weekend,” and “next weekend”?
- This weekend: в эти выходные (also common: на этих выходных)
- Last weekend: в прошлые выходные (/на прошлых выходных)
- Next weekend: в следующие выходные (/на следующих выходных)
Can I change the word order? What gets emphasized?
Yes. Russian word order is flexible and shifts emphasis.
- В выходные я заработал немного денег. Focus on when.
- Я в выходные заработал немного денег. Balanced.
- Я немного денег заработал в выходные. Emphasizes the small amount.
- Немного денег я заработал в выходные. Strong focus on “a little money.”
How do I express a habitual meaning like “I used to earn a little money on weekends”?
Use the imperfective and often по with the plural:
- Я зарабатывал по выходным немного денег.
- More colloquial: Я по выходным подрабатывал. (did side gigs)
Is "несколько денег" acceptable?
No, not with деньги. Несколько goes with countable items (e.g., несколько рублей/долларов). Since деньги is uncountable/plural-only, use немного денег, чуть-чуть денег, or name a currency: несколько тысяч рублей.
What’s the nuance between "немного," "немножко," and "чуть-чуть"?
All mean “a small amount,” but:
- Немного — neutral.
- Немножко — more colloquial, a bit softer.
- Чуть-чуть — very small amount; colloquial/emphatic.
All take the genitive: немного/немножко/чуть-чуть денег.
Can I omit "я" and just say "Заработал немного денег в выходные"?
Yes, dropping the subject pronoun is common, especially in speech. Context must make the subject clear. Note that заработал shows masculine singular, so without context it could be interpreted as “I/he (male) earned…”
Where are the stresses in the Russian words here?
- заработал: зарабо́тал (stress on -бо-)
- немного: немно́го (on -но-)
- денег: де́нег (on де-)
- выходные: выходны́е (on -ны́-)
Is there a verb that implies “made some extra money” rather than just “earned”?
Yes: подзаработал (“earned a bit extra”). For example: Я подзаработал в выходные. This suggests a modest, supplementary earning.