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Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву.

Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву.
Tomorrow the plane will arrive in Moscow.

Breakdown of Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву.

в
to
завтра
tomorrow
самолёт
the plane
Москва
Moscow
прилететь
to arrive
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Questions & Answers about Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву.

Why is it прилетит and not прилетает here?

Both are possible, but they sound different:

  • прилетит – future tense of a perfective verb (прилететь). It presents the arrival as a single, complete event that will happen tomorrow.

    • Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву.
      = The plane will arrive in Moscow tomorrow (one specific arrival).

  • прилетает – present tense of the imperfective verb (прилетать). In the future sense it usually suggests a schedule or something regular/habitual:

    • Самолёт прилетает в Москву в 7 вечера.
      = The plane arrives in Moscow at 7 p.m. (according to a timetable).

So in your sentence, we talk about one concrete future event, so прилетит is the natural choice.

What aspect is прилетит, and what does that tell me?

Прилетит is perfective aspect (from прилететь).

In Russian:

  • Perfective: completed, one-time, result-focused actions.

    • Past: прилетел – (he) arrived.
    • Future: прилетит – (he / the plane) will arrive (once, completely).

  • Imperfective: process, repeated / habitual, or general statements.

    • Present: прилетает – (he / the plane) is arriving / arrives (in general).
    • Future (compound): будет прилетать – will be arriving / will arrive regularly.

So using прилетит tells the listener that the action is viewed as a single completed arrival in the future.

Could I say самолёт будет прилетать в Москву instead?

Yes, but it would mean something different.

  • Самолёт прилетит в Москву.
    – One specific arrival tomorrow.

  • Самолёт будет прилетать в Москву.
    – The plane will regularly fly to Moscow / will arrive in Moscow repeatedly in the future (e.g., as part of a new route or schedule).

So будет прилетать describes repeated or habitual actions in the future, not a single flight tomorrow.

Why is it в Москву and not в Москве?

Russian uses different cases with в depending on whether it’s motion to a place or location in a place:

  • Motion to (where to?): в + accusative

    • в Москву – to Moscow (accusative: Москву)
    • лететь в Москву – to fly to Moscow
    • идти в школу – to go to school

  • Location in (where?): в + prepositional

    • в Москве – in Moscow (prepositional: Москве)
    • жить в Москве – to live in Moscow
    • быть в школе – to be at school

In самолёт прилетит в Москву, the plane is moving toward Moscow, so you need в Москву (accusative).

Why does Москва change to Москву?

Москва is a feminine noun. In the accusative singular (for a destination with motion after в), it changes:

  • Nominative (dictionary form): Москва
  • Accusative: Москву

Pattern: many feminine nouns ending in -а change -а → -у in the accusative:

  • комната → в комнату (into the room)
  • деревня → в деревню (to the village)
  • Москва → в Москву (to Moscow)

So Москву is simply “Moscow” in the accusative case, required here by в plus motion.

Why do we use прилететь for a plane and not приехать?

Russian has different verbs of motion depending on how you travel:

  • лететь / прилететь – to fly / to arrive by flying
  • ехать / приехать – to go / arrive by vehicle (car, bus, train, etc.)
  • идти / прийти – to go / arrive on foot

A plane obviously flies, so:

  • Самолёт прилетит в Москву. – The plane will arrive (by flying) in Moscow.

Using приедет (from приехать) with самолёт sounds wrong to native speakers, because that verb is tied to ground transport or generic “vehicle travel,” not flying.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” in this sentence?

Russian has no articles (no the, a, or an). Whether something is definite or indefinite is understood from:

  • context
  • word order
  • intonation
  • additional words (like этот = this, какой-то = some, etc.)

Самолёт прилетит в Москву can mean:

  • The plane will arrive in Moscow (if both speakers know which plane is meant)
  • A plane will arrive in Moscow (if it’s just some plane, not yet specified)

Russian doesn’t mark this difference grammatically; English has to choose between a and the, but Russian does not.

Can the word завтра be placed in other positions?

Yes. All of these are grammatically correct:

  1. Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву.
    – Neutral; common word order.

  2. Самолёт завтра прилетит в Москву.
    – Slight extra focus on самолёт first (“The plane, tomorrow it will arrive…”).

  3. Самолёт прилетит завтра в Москву.
    – More emphasis on tomorrow rather than the plane or place.

  4. Самолёт прилетит в Москву завтра.
    – Also possible; focus shifts to the time at the end.

The basic meaning doesn’t change, but word order affects what is emphasized. Starting with Завтра is very natural when you want to highlight the time.

Is завтра a noun like “tomorrow” or something else?

In Russian, завтра is an adverb, not a noun.

  • It answers the question “когда?” (when?).
  • It doesn’t change form (no plural, no cases).

So:

  • завтра – tomorrow (when)
  • вчера – yesterday
  • сегодня – today

You can also use the noun завтрашний день (literally “tomorrow’s day”), but in everyday speech, завтра as an adverb is much more common: Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву.

How is прилетит formed and why does it end in -ит?

The infinitive is прилететь (to arrive by flying).

Conjugation (future perfective, since perfective has no present tense):

  • я прилечу – I will arrive (by flying)
  • ты прилетишь
  • он / она / оно прилетит
  • мы прилетим
  • вы прилетите
  • они прилетят

Самолёт is 3rd person singular (like он – he/it), so you use the он / она / оно form: прилетит.

That -ит ending is the regular 3rd person singular ending for many verbs in the second conjugation pattern.

How do you stress and pronounce самолёт прилетит в Москву?

Stresses (marked with capital letters):

  • са-мО-лёт при-ле-тИт в МосквУ

Key points:

  • самолёт – stress on -лёт: sa-ma-LYOT
  • прилетит – stress on -тИт: pri-le-TIT
  • Москву – stress on -вУ: mas-KVÚ

Connected speech:

  • The в in в Москву is pronounced, but it often blends with М: [vmas-KVÚ].
  • о in unstressed syllables sounds like a short a: са → [sa], мо (unstressed) → [ma].

Approximate phonetic rendering: sa-ma-LYOT pri-le-TIT vmas-KVÚ.

Why do we need в Москву and not just самолёт прилетит?

You can say just:

  • Завтра самолёт прилетит. – Tomorrow the plane will arrive.

But then you don’t say where it arrives. Adding в Москву answers “куда?” (to where?):

  • Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву. – Tomorrow the plane will arrive in Moscow.

So в Москву is not grammatically required for the verb прилетит, but it is needed if you want to specify the destination.

Could you express the same idea with a present tense like in English “The plane arrives tomorrow”?

Yes, Russian can also use the present tense for scheduled future events, but with imperfective aspect:

  • Самолёт прилетает в Москву завтра.

This sounds like you’re talking about a timetable / regular schedule (e.g., what the timetable says, or a regularly scheduled flight).

Compare:

  • Завтра самолёт прилетит в Москву. – One specific future arrival (more event-focused).
  • Самолёт прилетает в Москву завтра. – According to the schedule, the plane arrives in Moscow tomorrow (schedule-focused).

Both can describe the same real-world situation, but the choice slightly changes the nuance and focus.