Breakdown of Зимой я пью чай с лимоном и витамином C, чтобы по крайней мере не простудиться.
я
I
пить
to drink
с
with
и
and
Questions & Answers about Зимой я пью чай с лимоном и витамином C, чтобы по крайней мере не простудиться.
Why is it зимой and not в зиме or в зиму? What case is this?
Зимой is the instrumental singular form of зима (winter), and here it’s used in a very common pattern: instrumental of time = “in/at (a season or part of the day)”.
Russian often uses the bare instrumental (without a preposition) to talk about when something happens, especially:
- зимой – in (the) winter
- летом – in (the) summer
- осенью – in (the) autumn
- весной – in (the) spring
- утром – in the morning
- ночью – at night
So:
- Зимой я пью чай… = In winter I drink tea…
Forms with в are possible in other meanings, but sound wrong or unnatural here:
- в зиме – literally “in the winter (as inside it)” – used only in special abstract/poetic contexts
- в зиму – directional, like “into the winter (season)”, again very rare and stylistic
For a normal “in winter (as a general time)”, you say зимой.
Why is it с лимоном и витамином C, not с лимон or с витамин C?