Мы часто обсуждаем планы на выходные за ужином.

We often discuss plans for the weekend over dinner.

Breakdown of Мы часто обсуждаем планы на выходные за ужином.

• на: for
• часто: often
• ужин: the dinner
• мы: we
• план: the plan
• за: over
• выходные: the weekend
• обсуждать: to discuss

Questions & Answers about Мы часто обсуждаем планы на выходные за ужином.

What is the basic word order in Мы часто обсуждаем планы на выходные за ужином., and can it be changed?

The basic word order here is:

• Мы – subject (we)
• часто – adverb (often)
• обсуждаем – verb (discuss)
• планы – direct object (plans)
• на выходные – what the plans are for (for the weekend)
• за ужином – when/where (at/during dinner)

So it’s essentially Subject – Adverb – Verb – Object – Adverbial phrases, very similar to English.

Russian word order is flexible, so you can move elements for emphasis, for example:

• Мы за ужином часто обсуждаем планы на выходные. (emphasis on at dinner)
• Часто мы обсуждаем планы на выходные за ужином. (emphasis on often)

But the original order is the most neutral and natural-sounding.

Why is обсуждаем used instead of обсудим? What is the aspect difference?

• обсуждаем is from обсуждать (imperfective aspect, present tense: we discuss / we are discussing).
• обсудим is from обсудить (perfective aspect, future tense: we will discuss).

Imperfective (обсуждаем) is used for:

• habitual, repeated actions
• processes, without focusing on the result

Here the sentence describes a regular habit: We often discuss … (in general, as a routine), so imperfective present обсуждаем is correct.

If you said Мы обсудим планы на выходные за ужином., it would mean We will (at some point) discuss the plans for the weekend at dinner – a single future event, not a habit.

How do you conjugate and pronounce обсуждаем?

Obсуждаем comes from обсуждать (to discuss), 1st conjugation:

• я обсуждаю
• ты обсуждаешь
• он/она/оно обсуждает
• мы обсуждаем
• вы обсуждаете
• они обсуждают

Stress: обсуждАем (on -да-: ob-su-zhDA-yem).

Approximate pronunciation: [ab-suzh-DÁ-yem] (the first о is reduced and sounds more like a).

Why is планы plural instead of singular (like “a plan”)?

In Russian it is very natural to talk about планы (plans) in the plural when you mean “what we’re going to do” in a general sense.

English often says:

• our plan for the weekend (singular) but also
• our plans for the weekend (plural).

Russian almost always uses the plural планы in this context, because you usually have several ideas/activities in mind.

So обсуждаем планы = we discuss (our) plans (plural), and that’s the normal idiomatic way to say it.

What case is планы in here, and why is there no preposition?

Планы is in the accusative plural:

• Nominative plural: планы
• Accusative plural (inanimate): also планы

The verb обсуждать takes a direct object in the accusative with no preposition, just like English discuss something (not discuss about something).

So:

• обсуждать планы = to discuss plans
• обсуждать проблему = to discuss a problem
• обсуждать фильм = to discuss a film

Why do we say на выходные here and not о выходных?

• на выходные (accusative with на) means for the weekend – it expresses a destination, purpose, or time you’re planning for.
• о выходных (prepositional with о) means about the weekend (in general), not specifically what you are going to do.

So:

• обсуждать планы на выходные = to discuss plans for the weekend
• говорить о выходных = to talk about the weekend(s)

In English we also distinguish:

• plans for the weekend (what we’ll do)
• talk about the weekend (topic of conversation)

Russian marks this difference with на vs о and different cases.

What exactly does выходные mean, and why is it plural?

Выходные literally means days off, historically the days when you don’t work. It is grammatically plural only (like English scissors, pants).

In modern usage, выходные almost always means the weekend (Saturday and Sunday, or your regular days off).

Some typical uses:

• На выходные мы поедем к друзьям. – We’ll go to our friends for the weekend.
• Как прошли выходные? – How was your weekend?
• У меня нет выходных. – I don’t have days off / I don’t have weekends.

What does за mean in за ужином, and which case does it require here?

In за ужином, the preposition за means during / at (a meal) – specifically “while we are having dinner”.

With meals and similar situations, за typically takes the instrumental case and means “in the course of / while engaged in”:

• за ужином – at/during dinner
• за обедом – at/during lunch
• за завтраком – at/during breakfast

So here ужином is instrumental singular, governed by за.

What case and ending does ужином have, and how is it formed?

Ужин (dinner) is a masculine noun:

• Nominative singular: ужин
• Instrumental singular: ужином

To form the instrumental of a regular masculine noun ending in a consonant, you typically add -ом:

• стол → столом (table → with/by the table)
• город → городом (city → with/by the city)
• ужин → ужином (dinner → at/during dinner, with the appropriate preposition)

So за ужином literally is “behind dinner”, but idiomatically means “at / during dinner”.

Can we say за ужин instead of за ужином?

No, not in this meaning.

• За ужином (instrumental) = at / during dinner (while we are eating).
• За ужин (accusative) would mean something like for dinner in a different sense (e.g., payment, prize: “He got a book for dinner”), which is not what we want here.

For the idea “while eating dinner”, you must use за + instrumental:
за ужином, за обедом, за чаем (over tea).

Where should часто go in the sentence? Can we move it?

In the original, часто comes right before the verb: Мы часто обсуждаем…. That is the most neutral and common position.

You can move часто for different nuances:

• Мы обсуждаем часто планы на выходные за ужином. – possible, but sounds less natural; slightly emphasizes the frequency as an afterthought.
• Часто мы обсуждаем планы на выходные за ужином. – emphasizes “often” at the start.
• Мы за ужином часто обсуждаем планы на выходные. – emphasizes the setting “at dinner”, still natural.

But you normally avoid putting часто between the verb and its direct object (e.g. обсуждаем часто планы) in careful, neutral speech, although it’s not strictly wrong.

Is it necessary to say мы, or can it be omitted?

Russian can drop subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person:

• Мы обсуждаем = we discuss
• (Мы) обсуждаем – we is still understood from -ем.

So Часто обсуждаем планы на выходные за ужином. is grammatically possible and would still mean We often discuss plans for the weekend at dinner.

However, in neutral written and careful spoken Russian, it’s more common to keep мы. Dropping it can sound a bit more colloquial or stylistically marked, depending on context.

How would you say “We will discuss our plans for the weekend at dinner” referring to a single future event?

For a single, specific future action with a focus on completion, use the perfective обсудить:

• Мы обсудим планы на выходные за ужином. – We will discuss plans for the weekend at dinner.

If you want to emphasize that the plans are our plans, you can say:

• Мы обсудим наши планы на выходные за ужином.

Compared to Мы часто обсуждаем планы… (habit/routine), Мы обсудим… clearly refers to one future occasion.