Мой друг уходит из офиса поздно вечером.

My friend leaves the office late in the evening.

Breakdown of Мой друг уходит из офиса поздно вечером.

• друг: the friend
• мой: my
• вечером: in the evening
• из: from
• офис: the office
• поздно: late
• уходить: to leave

Questions & Answers about Мой друг уходит из офиса поздно вечером.

Why is it уходит and not идёт or ходит?

In Russian, уходить specifically means “to leave / to go away (from somewhere)”.

• идти / ходить mean “to go, to walk” without the idea of leaving a place.
• уходить = “to go away, to depart, to leave”.

So:

• Мой друг идёт в офис. – My friend is going to the office.
• Мой друг уходит из офиса. – My friend is leaving the office (going away from it).

The prefix у- adds the meaning “away from, off, out of” to the verb of motion.

What tense and aspect is уходит, and how should I understand it?

Уходит is:

• Present tense
• 3rd person singular
• Imperfective aspect
• From the verb уходить (imperfective) / уйти (perfective).

Imperfective aspect here can mean:

1. An action happening now:
   • Мой друг уходит из офиса. – My friend is (right now) leaving the office.
2. A repeated / habitual action:
   • Он обычно уходит из офиса поздно вечером. – He usually leaves the office late in the evening.

For a single, completed future action, you would use the perfective:

• Мой друг уйдёт из офиса поздно вечером. – My friend will leave the office late in the evening (once).

How is уходить conjugated?

Уходить (imperfective) conjugates like this in the present:

• я ухожу́ – I leave / am leaving
• ты уходи́шь – you leave / are leaving (singular, informal)
• он / она / оно уходи́т – he / she / it leaves / is leaving
• мы уходи́м – we leave / are leaving
• вы уходи́те – you leave / are leaving (plural or formal)
• они уходя́т – they leave / are leaving

In your sentence, мой друг = “he”, so we use уходи́т.

Why is it из офиса and not с офиса or от офиса?

The choice of preposition depends on the idea and the type of place:

• из = “from, out of” (from the inside of a space or building)

  • из офиса – from the office (from inside the office space)

• с = “from, off (of)” (from a surface, from an event, from some institutions)

  • с работы – from work
  • со стола – from (off) the table

• от = “away from” (from a person or point, origin, distance)

  • от друга – from a friend
  • от дома – away from the house

Since an office is imagined as an enclosed space that you are leaving from the inside, из офиса is the natural choice.

Why is офиса in that form? What case is it?

Офиса is the genitive singular of офис.

• офис – nominative singular (dictionary form)
• офиса – genitive singular

The preposition из always takes the genitive case. That’s why you must say:

• из офиса, из дома, из магазина, etc.

Basic forms of офис (inanimate masculine noun):

• Nom.: офис
• Gen.: офиса
• Dat.: офису
• Acc.: офис
• Instr.: офисом
• Prep.: об офисе

What case is вечером, and why does it mean “in the evening” without any preposition?

Вечером is the instrumental singular of вечер (“evening”).

Russian often uses the instrumental without a preposition to express time when for parts of the day:

• утром – in the morning
• днём – in the daytime
• вечером – in the evening
• ночью – at night

So вечером by itself already means “in the evening”; you don’t need в here.
Поздно вечером = “late in the evening”.

What is the difference between поздно вечером and поздним вечером?

Both are grammatical, but there’s a nuance:

• поздно вечером:

  • поздно is an adverb (“late”).
  • Literally: “late, in the evening”.
  • Most natural, neutral way to say “late in the evening”.

• поздним вечером:

  • поздним is an adjective (“late”) in instrumental case, agreeing with вечером.
  • Literally: “in the late evening”.
  • Feels a bit more descriptive / literary, less colloquial.

In everyday speech, поздно вечером is more common.

Why is it мой друг, and how does мой change with gender and number?

Мой is the masculine singular nominative form of “my”. It must agree with the noun:

• masculine: мой друг – my (male) friend
• feminine: моя подруга – my (female) friend
• neuter: моё письмо – my letter
• plural (all genders): мои друзья – my friends

In the sentence, друг is masculine, so we use мой in the nominative case: Мой друг…

Does друг always mean a male friend? How do I say a female friend?

Друг is grammatically masculine and usually understood as a male friend.

For a specifically female friend, you normally say:

• подруга – (female) friend
  • моя подруга уходит из офиса поздно вечером.

In the plural, друзья can refer to a mixed or unspecified group of friends (male + female). But for one clearly female friend in everyday speech, подруга is the normal choice.

Can the word order be different, for example Мой друг поздно вечером уходит из офиса?

Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible. These are all possible:

1. Мой друг уходит из офиса поздно вечером.
   – Neutral; simple statement of fact.

2. Мой друг поздно вечером уходит из офиса.
   – Slight extra emphasis on when he leaves (late in the evening).

3. Поздно вечером мой друг уходит из офиса.
   – Stronger focus on the time: as for late evening, that’s when he leaves.

4. Из офиса мой друг уходит поздно вечером.
   – Emphasis on the place he is leaving (from the office, not from somewhere else).

The most typical neutral order is the original one, but moving words changes what is highlighted, not the basic meaning.

How would I clearly say “My friend leaves the office late in the evenings (as a routine)” versus “My friend is leaving late this evening (today)”?

Russian often clarifies this by adding time words:

1. Habitual / routine:

   • Мой друг уходит из офиса поздно вечером каждый день.
     My friend leaves the office late in the evening every day.
   • Мой друг обычно уходит из офиса поздно вечером.
     My friend usually leaves the office late in the evening.

2. Specific, this evening:

   • Мой друг сегодня уходит из офиса поздно вечером.
     My friend is leaving the office late this evening (today).
   • For a single, completed future event you can use perfective: Мой друг сегодня уйдёт из офиса поздно вечером.

How is this sentence pronounced, and where are the stresses?

Stresses:

• Мой – [МОЙ]
• друг – [ДРУГ]
• уходит – ухо́дит → stress on хо́
• из – [ис]
• о́фиса – stress on О́ (о́фи-)
• по́здно – stress on ПО́
• ве́чером – stress on ВЕ́

Approximate pronunciation (with stressed syllables in caps):
MOY DRUG u-HO-dit iz O-fi-sa POZ-dna VYE-che-rom.