По вечерам мне иногда хочется кефира, а не чая.

In the evenings I sometimes feel like kefir instead of tea.

Breakdown of По вечерам мне иногда хочется кефира, а не чая.

• я: I
• вечер: the evening
• чай: the tea
• иногда: sometimes
• хотеться: to feel like
• по: in
• а не: rather than
• кефир: the kefir

Questions & Answers about По вечерам мне иногда хочется кефира, а не чая.

What does по вечерам mean here?

It means in the evenings or in the evening time, as a habit.

The important idea is repetition: not one specific evening, but evenings in general. So по вечерам is closer to in the evenings than to this evening.

Why is it вечерам and not вечера or вечеры?

Because the preposition по often takes the dative case when it talks about repeated times.

So:

• вечер = evening
• вечерам = dative plural, after по

This pattern is very common:

• по утрам = in the mornings
• по вечерам = in the evenings
• по ночам = at night / during nights
• по выходным = on weekends

How is по вечерам different from вечером or вечерами?

These are similar, but not identical:

• вечером = in the evening, often referring to one occasion or speaking more generally about evening time
• по вечерам = in the evenings, emphasizing a repeated/habitual pattern
• вечерами = also in the evenings, very close to по вечерам

So in this sentence, по вечерам is used because the speaker means sometimes, as a recurring thing, during evenings.

Why does the sentence say мне хочется instead of я хочу?

Because мне хочется is softer and more natural here.

• я хочу = I want
• мне хочется = I feel like, I have a desire for, I’m in the mood for

So:

• Я хочу кефир sounds more direct and definite.
• Мне хочется кефира sounds more like a passing feeling or craving.

In this sentence, the idea is not a strong demand, but a recurring feeling: sometimes I feel like kefir.

What exactly is хочется?

Хочется is the 3rd person singular form of хотеться, a verb that means something like to feel like or to want in an impersonal way.

It is commonly used in patterns like:

• мне хочется спать = I feel like sleeping / I want to sleep
• ему хочется кофе = he feels like coffee
• нам хочется домой = we want to go home

It is called impersonal because there is no normal grammatical subject like я doing the wanting. The structure is more like to me, it feels desirable.

Why is it мне and not я?

Because with хочется, the person who experiences the feeling is usually in the dative case.

So:

• я = I
• мне = to me

Russian treats this as an experience happening to someone:

• мне хочется = I feel like...
  literally something like to me it is desired

This dative pattern is very common with impersonal expressions in Russian.

Why are кефира and чая in the genitive case?

Because after хочется, nouns like food and drink are very often put in the genitive.

So:

• кефир → кефира
• чай → чая

This often gives the sense of some:

• мне хочется кефира = I feel like some kefir
• мне хочется чая = I feel like some tea

That is why the genitive sounds very natural here.

Does the genitive here mean the same thing as English some?

Very often, yes.

Russian does not need a separate word like some in many cases. The genitive itself can give that idea, especially with food and drink.

So кефира here suggests some kefir, not necessarily a specific serving viewed as a fully separate object.

Why is it чая and not чаю?

Both can be correct, but they are slightly different stylistically.

• чая = regular genitive form
• чаю = an old partitive-type form, often used with meanings like some tea

So:

• Мне хочется чая = completely correct, neutral
• Мне хочется чаю = also natural, often a bit more conversational or traditional in tone

In your sentence, чая is a normal, standard choice.

What does а не mean in this sentence?

Here а не sets up a contrast:

• кефира, а не чая = kefir, not tea
• more naturally in English: kefir rather than tea

The conjunction а is often used when Russian contrasts one thing with another. It is not exactly the same as but in every context; here it is more like as opposed to.

Why is there a comma before а?

Because а is a coordinating conjunction introducing a contrast, and Russian normally puts a comma before it in this kind of sentence.

So the comma marks the opposition between the two choices:

• кефира
• а не чая

Can the word order be changed?

Yes. Russian word order is fairly flexible, because case endings show the grammatical roles.

For example, these are all possible with slightly different emphasis:

• По вечерам мне иногда хочется кефира, а не чая.
• Мне иногда по вечерам хочется кефира, а не чая.
• Иногда по вечерам мне хочется кефира, а не чая.

The original order is very natural because it starts with the time setting по вечерам and then gives the experience.

Is this sentence talking about every evening?

Not necessarily.

По вечерам means in the evenings as a general pattern, and иногда adds sometimes. So the idea is:

During evenings, sometimes I feel like kefir rather than tea.

It does not mean every single evening. It means this happens from time to time.