Learn Hardcore Russian: Мы собираемся устроить праздник дома.

To gather, to assemble (people coming together somewhere).
- Мы собираемся у друга. – We are getting together at a friend’s place.
To be going to do something, to intend to do something (followed by an infinitive).
- Мы собираемся устроить праздник. – We are going to throw a party / We intend to throw a party.

In your sentence it’s clearly the second meaning: собираться + infinitive = to be going to / to intend to.

Why is устроить in the infinitive form after собираемся?

In Russian, many verbs of intention or plan are followed by an infinitive, just like English “going to do,” “want to do,” “plan to do”:

собираться сделать – to be going to do
хотеть сделать – to want to do
планировать сделать – to plan to do

So собираемся устроить literally means “we are going to arrange / organize / throw”, and устроить is in the infinitive because it depends on собираемся.

Structure:

Мы – subject (“we”)
собираемся – finite verb (1st person plural, present)
устроить – infinitive (what we are going to do)
праздник – object (what we are going to throw)
дома – adverb (where)

What’s the difference between Мы собираемся устроить праздник and Мы устроим праздник?

Both can refer to the future, but the nuance is different:

Мы собираемся устроить праздник.
- Focus on intention / plan.
- Similar to English “We’re going to throw a party” or “We’re planning to throw a party.”
- Sounds like you’re talking about your current plan, maybe before it actually happens.
Мы устроим праздник.
- Simple future of устроить.
- More neutral, can sound like a promise, prediction, or decision: “We will throw a party.”
- Less about “we’re already in the process of planning,” more about the fact that this will happen.

In everyday speech about a near, already‑planned future, собираться + infinitive is very common and feels natural.

Why is it устроить праздник, not something like сделать праздник or иметь праздник?

Russian uses specific collocations:

устроить праздник / вечеринку / концерт
= to organize / put on / throw a party, an event, a concert.

Сделать праздник is possible in some contexts but is much less idiomatic for “have a party.”
Иметь праздник is wrong in this sense; Russian doesn’t use иметь for “to have a party.”

Common natural ways to say “have a party”:

устроить праздник – to throw / organize a celebration
устроить вечеринку – to throw a party (more “party” than “holiday”)
отпраздновать дома – to celebrate at home

So устроить праздник is the standard, idiomatic phrase.

What is the difference between праздник and вечеринка in this sentence? Could I say устроить вечеринку дома instead?

Yes, you can say устроить вечеринку дома, but there is a nuance:

праздник
- General “celebration / holiday.”
- Can be something big or official (New Year, a wedding), but also a family celebration.
- Your sentence with праздник sounds a bit more neutral/formal: “a celebration / a party at home.”
вечеринка
- More like “a party” in the social sense: friends, drinks, music.
- Informal, friendly atmosphere.

So:

Мы собираемся устроить праздник дома. – We’re going to have a celebration at home (could be a birthday, New Year, etc.).
Мы собираемся устроить вечеринку дома. – We’re going to have a (house) party.

Both are grammatically correct; choose based on the type of event.

Why is it дома and not в доме or домой?

These are three different forms related to дом (“home/house”):

дома (with stress on о: [до́ма])
- Adverb meaning “at home” (location).
- No preposition.
- Used in your sentence: устроить праздник дома = arrange a celebration at home.
в доме
- Literally “in the house”, more physical/location-specific.
- Focus on inside a particular building, not necessarily home.
- Could sound a bit more concrete: “in the house, inside the building.”
домой
- Direction: “(to) home”.
- Used with verbs of motion: идти домой – to go home.

So here you want the static location “at home,” therefore дома is correct.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Мы собираемся дома устроить праздник?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and these variants are all possible:

Мы собираемся устроить праздник дома. – Neutral, very natural.
Мы собираемся дома устроить праздник. – Also OK; slightly emphasizes дома (“at home, not somewhere else”).
Дома мы собираемся устроить праздник. – Stronger emphasis on дома at the beginning.

The basic meaning stays the same. In speech, the original order (устроить праздник дома) is the most typical and neutral.

Why is собираемся in the present tense if the action is in the future?

The present tense собираемся describes your current state of intention / plan.
Then the infinitive устроить refers to the future action.

This is very similar to English “We are going to throw a party”, where are is present tense, but the meaning is future.

Russian often expresses the near or planned future using:

собираться + infinitive
намереваться + infinitive
хотеть + infinitive

All of these verbs are in the present, but they talk about plans or intentions regarding the future.

Why does собираться have the reflexive ending -ся here?

Many Russian verbs use -ся / -сь to form reflexive or related meanings. For собираться, there are two main meanings:

собирать = to collect, to gather (something).
- собирать грибы – to gather mushrooms.
собираться (reflexive form) =
- to gather together (people come together)
- to intend / to be going to do something (with infinitive)

So собираться is the reflexive form that has acquired the additional meaning “to be going to (do something).”
You can’t say мы собираем устроить праздник – that would be incorrect for “we’re going to throw a party.” You must use собираться.

Could I just say Мы устроим праздник дома without собираемся? Would it sound different?

Yes, you can say Мы устроим праздник дома, and it’s perfectly correct.

Difference in feel:

Мы собираемся устроить праздник дома.
- Talking about a current plan / intention.
- Feels more like “We’re planning / We’re going to (probably soon).”
Мы устроим праздник дома.
- A bit more definite or matter-of-fact: “We will throw a party at home.”
- Can sound like a promise, statement of fact, or decision.

Context decides which one sounds better, but both are natural.

Can I leave out мы and just say Собираемся устроить праздник дома?

Yes, in spoken Russian, subject pronouns are often omitted when the person is clear from the verb ending.

Собираемся устроить праздник дома.
- Verb ending -емся clearly shows “we” (1st person plural).
- Sounds informal, conversational, like: “(We) are going to throw a party at home.”

However, including мы is always correct and is slightly clearer, especially in written or formal speech.

Is there any difference between устроить праздник дома and устроить праздник у себя дома?

Both are correct but not identical in nuance:

устроить праздник дома
- Usually understood as “at (our) home”, from the speakers’ point of view.
- Shorter and more general.
устроить праздник у себя дома
- Literally: “to throw a celebration at one’s own home.”
- Emphasizes that it’s your own home, not somebody else’s.
- Can be used to contrast with other locations:
  - Не в ресторане, а у себя дома. – Not in a restaurant, but at our own place.

For many everyday contexts, дома alone is enough.

Why is it устроить праздник and not устраивать праздник here? What’s the aspect difference?

Устроить (perfective) vs устраивать (imperfective):

устроить праздник (perfective)
- One complete event, result-focused: “to throw a (single) party / to have a celebration (once).”
- Fits well with a specific plan for one occasion: Мы собираемся устроить праздник.
устраивать праздники (imperfective)
- Repeated, habitual or process-focused: “to organize parties (in general, regularly).”
- Example: Мы часто устраиваем праздники дома. – We often throw parties at home.

Since your sentence refers to one planned party, the perfective устроить is the natural choice.