Learn Hardcore Russian: Мой друг ездит на север зимой.

ехать (едет) – to go by vehicle, one time, in one direction
- Мой друг едет на север. = My friend is going north (now / this time).
ездить (ездит) – to go by vehicle, habitually or repeatedly, or in general
- Мой друг ездит на север зимой. = My friend goes (regularly) to the north in winter.
ходить (ходит) – to go on foot, habitually or repeatedly.

In this sentence, the meaning is regular, repeated trips by some sort of transport, so ездит is the natural choice.

Why is it на север and not в север?

With cardinal directions (north, south, east, west), Russian normally uses на when talking about movement towards that direction:

ехать на север – to go north
лететь на юг – to fly south
повернуть на восток – to turn east

В север is not used for this meaning. Think of на here as “to(wards)” rather than “on”.

What case is север in, and why doesn’t it change?

Север is in the accusative singular after the preposition на with direction.

For masculine inanimate nouns like север, the nominative and accusative forms are identical:

Nominative: север
Accusative: (also) север

So it looks like the basic form, but grammatically it’s accusative of direction: ехать на север = “to go to the north”.

Why is it зимой and not зима or в зиму?

Зимой is the instrumental case of зима and is the standard way to say “in (the) winter”:

зимой – in (the) winter
летом – in (the) summer
весной – in (the) spring
осенью – in (the) autumn/fall

You normally do not say:

✗ в зиму – this would be unusual, poetic, or mean something slightly different.
✗ в зима – grammatically wrong.

So:

Мой друг ездит на север зимой. = My friend goes north in winter.

Could I say Зимой мой друг ездит на север instead? Does word order change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Зимой мой друг ездит на север.

This is very natural. The meaning is the same, but the emphasis shifts slightly:

Мой друг ездит на север зимой.
Neutral order; focus starts with “my friend.”
Зимой мой друг ездит на север.
Slight emphasis on “in winter” (contrast: in summer he might go somewhere else).

Both are correct and common.

Why isn’t there a word for “the” in “the north”?

Russian has no articles (no “a/an” or “the”). Context and word choice convey what English usually expresses with articles.

So:

на север can mean:
- “to the north”
- “to the north side”
- “northward”

English needs the, but Russian simply uses север with на.

Can друг refer to a female friend, or is it only male?

Grammatically, друг is masculine, and by default it suggests a male friend.

мой друг – my (male) friend
моя подруга – my (female) friend

In some modern informal contexts people may use друг gender-neutrally, but the standard, clear way is:

male friend: друг
female friend: подруга

What exactly does ездит imply about time/aspect? Is it present, future, or both?

Ездит is present tense of the imperfective verb ездить.

Imperfective present can mean:

Right now (ongoing) – in some contexts:
- Он сейчас ездит по городу. = He is driving around the city now.
Habitual / repeated action – which is the meaning here:
- Мой друг ездит на север зимой.
  = My friend goes (regularly) north in winter.

It does not mean a single, one-time future trip. For a specific future trip, you’d more likely use the perfective:

Мой друг съездит на север зимой. = My friend will make a trip north in winter (one trip).

What’s the difference between ехать and ездить in general?

Both mean to go / travel by vehicle, but:

ехать – one direction, one concrete trip, often now or planned/future:
- Я еду в Москву. = I am going to Moscow (this trip).
ездить – habitual / repeated / general ability, or back-and-forth trips:
- Я часто езжу в Москву. = I often go to Moscow.
- Раньше я ездил в школу на автобусе. = I used to go to school by bus.

In your sentence, the idea is regular winter trips, so ездит is used.

Why is на север used instead of к северу?

Both exist, but they differ:

на север – “to the north / northward” (as a destination or region).
- Мой друг ездит на север зимой. = He goes to (the) north in winter.
к северу – “towards the north” (more about direction, often in descriptions, maps, or movement relative to something else).
- Река течёт к северу. = The river flows toward the north.

Talking about someone’s trips / travel destination, на север is the normal choice.

When is север capitalized as Север?

север (lowercase) – the direction, “north”:
- идти на север – to go north
Север (capitalized) – can be used as a proper name, for example:
- as a poetic or shorthand name for the Far North / northern regions
- in some organization or place names

In your sentence it’s just the direction/region in a general sense, so север is correctly lowercase.

How do you pronounce the sentence? Where is the stress?

Stress (accented syllables in caps):

МОЙ друг ЕЗдит на СЕвер зиМОЙ

More precisely:

мой – [moy], stress on the only syllable
друг – [druk], stress on the only syllable
ездит – ЕЗдит [YEZ-deet], stress on ЕЗ-
на – [na], unstressed
север – СЕвер [SYE-ver], stress on СЕ-
зимой – зиМОЙ [zi-MOY], stress on the second syllable

Can I add каждой and say Мой друг ездит на север каждой зимой?

Yes:

Мой друг ездит на север каждой зимой.
= My friend goes north every winter.

The original зимой already implies a habitual action (“in winter, habitually”), but каждой makes it explicit: every single winter, without exception.

If I want to say “My friends go north in winter,” how does the verb change?

You keep the rest of the sentence the same and change the subject and verb:

Мои друзья ездят на север зимой.

Changes:

Мой друг → Мои друзья (my friend → my friends)
ездит (3rd person singular) → ездят (3rd person plural)

Everything else stays the same.