Learn Hardcore Russian: В июле на свадьбе друг был без пиджака, но в красивом галстуке. - In July at the wedding my friend was without a blazer but in a beautiful tie.

в + accusative → movement into something (direction):
- в город – into the city
в + prepositional → being in something (location/time):
- в городе – in the city
- в июле – in July

Here we are talking about time (in July), not movement, so we need the prepositional case.

The noun июль (July) has:

nominative: июль
prepositional: в июле

So в июль would be a wrong form here; only в июле is correct for in July.

Why is it на свадьбе and not в свадьбе for at the wedding?

In Russian, choice of preposition is often idiomatic; you have to learn which preposition goes with which noun.

For events and activities, Russian typically uses на, not в:

на свадьбе – at the wedding
на концерте – at the concert
на вечеринке – at the party
на лекции – at the lecture

В is more for enclosed spaces or physical locations:

в доме – in the house
в ресторане – in the restaurant

A wedding is treated as an event, so the natural combination is на свадьбе, not в свадьбе.

Why does свадьбе end in -е?

Свадьба (wedding) is a feminine noun ending in -а in the nominative:

nominative (dictionary form): свадьба

After на in the meaning at (an event/place), nouns normally take the prepositional case. For feminine nouns ending in -а, the prepositional ending is -е:

свадьба → на свадьбе
школа → в школе
вечеринка → на вечеринке

So свадьбе is just свадьба in the prepositional case: на свадьбе = at the wedding.

Why is there no word for my before друг? Why not мой друг?

Russian uses possessive words like мой, твой, его much less often than English uses my, your, his.

Often, when it is obvious from context whose thing or person is meant, Russian simply omits the possessive:

друг – context often implies my friend
мама позвонила – my mom called (not necessarily someone else’s)
жена на работе – my wife is at work

You can say мой друг; it is grammatically correct. But it adds extra emphasis that it is my friend (as opposed to someone else’s), or it sounds slightly more formal/explicit. In a neutral narrative like this, plain друг (friend) is natural and usually interpreted as my friend when I’m the one speaking.

Why is друг in its basic form? Should it be declined?

Друг (friend) here is the subject of the sentence – the person who was in a certain state. Subjects in Russian take the nominative case, which is the dictionary (basic) form:

nominative: друг – friend (as subject)
genitive: друга
dative: другу, etc.

In the sentence:

друг был… – the friend was…

Because it is the subject, it correctly stays as друг in the nominative.

What is the function of был here, and can we leave it out?

Был is the past tense of the verb быть (to be). It works as a linking verb (copula) connecting the subject друг with the description of his state (без пиджака, в красивом галстуке):

друг был без пиджака – the friend was without a jacket.

In Russian:

In the present tense, the verb быть is usually omitted:
- Он студент. – He is a student.
In the past tense, you normally must use был / была / было / были:
- Он был студентом. – He was a student.

Here the action is in the past (в июле): therefore был is necessary in normal, neutral speech. You could sometimes see stylistic omissions in headlines or notes, but in a regular sentence like this, друг был… is the standard form.

Why is it без пиджака and not без пиджак or без пиджаком?

The preposition без (without) always takes the genitive case.

Пиджак (jacket) is a masculine noun. Its genitive singular form is пиджака:

nominative: пиджак
genitive: пиджака
dative: пиджаку, etc.

So:

без пиджака – without a jacket
без шапки – without a hat (шапка → шапки, gen.)
без телефона – without a phone (телефон → телефона, gen.)

Без пиджак or без пиджаком are grammatically incorrect, because без does not use nominative or instrumental; it must be followed by the genitive.

Could we also say он не был в пиджаке instead of он был без пиджака? Is there a difference?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

Он был без пиджака. – He was without a jacket.
- Focus on the absence of a jacket, often slightly stronger stylistically.
Он не был в пиджаке. – He was not in a jacket.
- Simply denies that he was wearing one; a bit more neutral/analytical.

In many contexts they can be interchangeable, but без пиджака is shorter and more idiomatic in descriptions of how someone was dressed. In the given sentence, был без пиджака sounds very natural.

Why do we say в красивом галстуке and not с красивым галстуком?

Russian uses different constructions for clothing vs. general possession:

To describe what someone is wearing, the usual pattern is быть в чём? (be in what?):
- быть в пиджаке – be in a jacket (wearing a jacket)
- быть в синем платье – be in a blue dress
- быть в красивом галстуке – be in a beautiful tie (wearing it)
С
- instrumental (с чем?) emphasizes having/holding/being accompanied by:
- мужчина с бородой – a man with a beard
- женщина с сумкой – a woman with a bag

You can say с галстуком, but it sounds more like “with a tie (as an accessory/feature)”, not the standard way to say “wearing a tie”. For clothing actually worn on the body, в + prepositional is the default, so в красивом галстуке is the most natural choice.

Why does красивом end in -ом?

Красивом is the adjective красивый (beautiful) agreeing with the noun галстук (tie) in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: prepositional

The pattern for a hard-stem masculine adjective in the prepositional singular is -ом:

красивый галстук → в красивом галстуке
новый костюм → в новом костюме
старый дом → в старом доме

So красивом is just the required adjective form that matches галстуке in case, number, and gender.

Why does галстуке end in -е?

Галстук (tie) is a masculine noun. In this sentence it follows в in the meaning in (wearing), so it must be in the prepositional case.

For most masculine nouns with a consonant at the end, the prepositional singular ending is -е:

галстук → в галстуке
костюм → в костюме
дом → в доме

So галстуке is simply галстук in the prepositional case, required by в in this meaning.

Why is there a comma before но?

Но is a coordinating conjunction meaning but, introducing a contrast. In Russian, when но joins two parts that each have their own predicate (here, one explicit, one implied), you normally use a comma:

Он был уставшим, но счастливым. – He was tired, but happy.
Друзья пришли, но родители ушли. – Friends came, but parents left.

In your sentence:

друг был без пиджака, но в красивом галстуке

We understand it as:

друг был без пиджака, но (был) в красивом галстуке.

There are effectively two contrasting parts, so a comma before но is required.

Why is there no был in the second part after но?

Russian often omits repeated elements when they are clear from context. This is called ellipsis. Here the verb был is understood in the second part and does not need to be repeated:

Full form: друг был без пиджака, но был в красивом галстуке.
Natural form: друг был без пиджака, но в красивом галстуке.

The second был is simply omitted to avoid repetition. This is very common and completely standard in Russian, especially when the same verb would appear twice in a row.

Can we change the word order, for example start with друг instead of в июле?

Yes. Russian word order is relatively flexible. The original:

В июле на свадьбе друг был без пиджака, но в красивом галстуке.

puts time (в июле) and place (на свадьбе) first, then the subject друг. This is a common, neutral pattern: time – place – subject – predicate.

You could also say, for example:

Друг был без пиджака, но в красивом галстуке на свадьбе в июле.
На свадьбе в июле друг был без пиджака, но в красивом галстуке.

All are grammatically correct; the differences are mostly about rhythm and what you want to emphasize. Starting with в июле highlights the time frame first, then the situation.