Learn Hardcore Russian: Мой друг приехал в Москву вчера.

For a female friend, you normally say подруга.
In modern Russian, друг by itself does not usually mean “boyfriend.” For romantic partners, people say:
- парень (boyfriend, young man)
- мой молодой человек (my boyfriend / my young man, more polite/formal)

So мой друг is best translated as “my (male) friend”, not “my boyfriend.”

Why is it приехал, not приехала or приехали?

The past tense verb agrees with the subject’s gender and number.

So Мой друг приехал = “My (male) friend arrived.”

What is the difference between приехал and приезжал?

Both come from the verb приехать / приезжать (to arrive), but they differ in aspect:

Приехал – past tense of a perfective verb (приехать).
- Focuses on the completed fact of arriving.
- “He arrived (and the arrival is a finished, single event).”
Приезжал – past tense of an imperfective verb (приезжать).
- Often implies repeatedness, background, or “he came and then left again / it wasn’t a one-time final arrival.”
- Can sound like: “He used to come” or “He came (at some point), but isn’t here now.”

In this sentence, вчера + приехал simply states the completed fact: “My friend arrived yesterday.”

Why is it в Москву and not в Москва or в Москве?

The choice is determined by the preposition and the verb of motion:

With verbs of motion to a place (go, come, arrive), в takes the accusative case.
Москва is the nominative form; its accusative singular is Москву.
В Москву = “to Moscow” (direction toward).

Compare:

Мой друг приехал в Москву. – My friend arrived in/into Moscow (he came there).
Мой друг живёт в Москве. – My friend lives in Moscow (location, not movement; here в takes the prepositional case Москве).

How can I tell that Москву is in the accusative case?

For feminine nouns ending in -а in the nominative singular, the accusative singular often changes -а → -у.

This pattern is common:

Because the verb expresses motion toward a place and the preposition is в, the city name must be in the accusative: в Москву.

Why is вчера at the end? Can I move it?

Basic Russian word order is comparatively flexible. In Мой друг приехал в Москву вчера, putting вчера at the end is very natural:

You can also say:

All are grammatically correct; the differences are mostly in emphasis and style, not in meaning.

Why don’t we need a word like “a” or “the” before друг or Москва?

Russian does not have articles (no equivalents of English a/an or the). The definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from:

So Мой друг приехал в Москву вчера can mean:

“My friend arrived in Moscow yesterday.”
There’s no need to decide between “a friend” and “the friend” in Russian grammar; мой (“my”) already specifies which friend.

Can I drop мой and just say Друг приехал в Москву вчера?

You technically can, but the meaning changes:

Мой друг приехал… – “My friend arrived…”
Друг приехал… – sounds like “A friend arrived…” or “The friend arrived…,” but without context this is unusual. You almost always specify whose friend in real speech.

Without мой, the sentence feels incomplete or context-dependent. Normally, you keep мой here.

What is the difference between приехать в Москву and уехать в Москву?

Both describe movement toward Moscow, but from different perspectives:

приехать в Москву – to arrive in Moscow
- Focus on reaching Moscow.
- Used from the point of view of the destination.
уехать в Москву – to leave (for) Moscow
- Focus on departing from somewhere to Moscow.
- Used from the point of view of the place someone is leaving.

In your sentence, the focus is on the fact that your friend has arrived in Moscow, so приехал в Москву is appropriate.

How do you pronounce приехал and where is the stress?

The stress falls on the second syllable: приЕхал – [pri-YE-khal].

So it’s roughly: pri-YE-khuhl, with the main stress on YE.