Breakdown of Во дворе дети играют вечером.
вечером
in the evening
играть
to play
ребёнок
the child
двор
the yard
Questions & Answers about Во дворе дети играют вечером.
Why is it во дворе and not в двор or в дворе?
Russian has two forms of the preposition в / во. They mean the same thing (in / into), but во is used for ease of pronunciation before some consonant clusters.
Saying в дворе would create a hard-to-pronounce cluster вд at the start of the phrase. Adding the vowel о makes it smoother: во дворе.
The case is also important:
- во двор – accusative: into the yard (movement, direction)
- во дворе – prepositional: in the yard (location, where something happens)
In the sentence Во дворе дети играют вечером, we are talking about where the children are playing (location), so we need во дворе with the prepositional case.
What case is дворе, and why?