Breakdown of Сегодня днём я решил немного поучиться языку в библиотеке.
я
I
в
in
сегодня
today
библиотека
the library
Questions & Answers about Сегодня днём я решил немного поучиться языку в библиотеке.
What does сегодня днём literally mean, and is it the same as “this afternoon”?
Literally, сегодня днём means today in the daytime.
In practice:
- сегодня днём ≈ “this afternoon” / “earlier today (in the day, not in the evening or morning)”.
- It usually refers to the middle part of the day (roughly late morning to late afternoon), contrasting with:
- сегодня утром – this morning
- сегодня вечером – this evening
So it’s very close to “this afternoon”, but a bit broader: it’s the general daytime period of today, not a strict clock time.
What case is днём, and why does it look like that?
Днём is the instrumental singular form of день (day).
Form:
- Nominative: день (day)
- Instrumental: днём
The instrumental is often used adverbially to express time when:
- днём – in the daytime
- ночью – at night
- утром – in the morning
- вечером – in the evening
So сегодня днём is literally “today, in the daytime”, where днём is instrumental used in a time sense.
Could I change the word order and say Я решил сегодня днём немного поучиться языку в библиотеке? Does it change the meaning?