Дети любят кататься на санках зимой.

Дети means children and is the plural form.
The singular is ребёнок (child).

This is an important pattern because дети does not look like a regular plural of ребёнок. It is an irregular noun pair:

• ребёнок = child
• дети = children

In this sentence, дети is in the nominative plural because it is the subject of the sentence.

Because the subject is дети (children), which is third person plural, the verb must also be plural:

• он / она любит = he/she likes
• они любят = they like

So:

• Дети любят... = Children like...

If the subject were singular, you would use любит:

• Ребёнок любит кататься на санках зимой. = The child likes sledding in winter.

After любить (to like / to love), Russian often uses an infinitive to say that someone likes doing something.

So the structure is:

• любить + infinitive

Examples:

• Я люблю читать. = I like reading.
• Они любят плавать. = They like swimming.
• Дети любят кататься на санках. = Children like sledding / like to ride on sleds.

This works very much like English like to do or like doing.

Here кататься means to ride for fun, to go for a ride, or in this context, to go sledding / ride on sleds.

It often suggests movement as an activity or pastime, not just one practical trip from one place to another.

Compare:

• кататься на велосипеде = to ride a bicycle for fun / go cycling
• кататься на коньках = to skate
• кататься на лыжах = to ski
• кататься на санках = to go sledding / ride on sleds

So in this sentence, the idea is not just use a sled once, but enjoy sledding as an activity.

The ending -ся marks the verb as reflexive, but in many cases like this, it is simply part of the standard verb and does not mean a literal reflexive action like wash oneself.

Here the pair is:

• катать = to roll something / to give someone a ride
• кататься = to ride around / to go riding / to roll around oneself

For example:

• Катать ребёнка на санках = to give a child a ride on a sled
• Ребёнок катается на санках = the child is riding on a sled / sledding

So кататься is the normal verb when the subject is the one doing the riding.

Russian usually uses на with many means of transport, sports equipment, or things you ride on:

• на велосипеде = on a bicycle
• на лошади = on a horse
• на лыжах = on skis
• на санках = on a sled / sleds

Even if English might sometimes say in a sled, Russian idiomatically says на санках.

So this is something to learn as a set expression:

• кататься на санках

Because after на in this meaning, Russian uses the prepositional case.

The basic noun is:

• санки = sled, sledge, sleds

In the prepositional plural, it becomes:

• на санках

So:

• санки → dictionary form
• на санках → after на, with the meaning on sleds

This is the same pattern as:

• на лыжах = on skis
• на коньках = on skates

Not necessarily. Санки is a plural-only noun in modern Russian in many everyday uses.

That means Russian commonly uses the plural form even when English might use a singular word:

• санки = sled / sledge / sleds

So на санках can mean on a sled in a general sense, not only on multiple sleds.

This is similar to some English nouns that are often plural in form, like scissors or pants, though the exact usage is not identical.

Зимой means in winter or during winter.

It is the instrumental case of зима (winter), and Russian often uses seasons in the instrumental to express time when something happens:

• зимой = in winter
• летом = in summer
• осенью = in autumn
• весной = in spring

So:

• Дети любят кататься на санках зимой. = Children like sledding in winter.

You can think of this as a common adverbial time expression.

No. В зимой is incorrect.

With seasons, Russian normally says:

• зимой
• летом
• осенью
• весной

So you should say:

• зимой = in winter

You may also see в зиму or на зиму in other meanings, but those do not mean the same thing as the simple time expression in winter.

It expresses a general habit or preference, not an action happening at this exact moment.

• Дети любят... = Children like...
• зимой = in winter

So the sentence means something like: Children like sledding in winter or Children enjoy riding on sleds in winter.

If you wanted to say that they are doing it right now, Russian would usually use a different structure, for example:

• Дети катаются на санках. = The children are sledding / riding on sleds.

Yes. Russian word order is fairly flexible, although the neutral order here is very natural:

• Дети любят кататься на санках зимой.

You could also say:

• Зимой дети любят кататься на санках.

This puts a little more emphasis on winter as the setting or time frame.

In general, Russian word order can change for emphasis, topic, or style, but the original version is a very normal, neutral sentence.

Usually кататься на санках is the more natural choice when you mean sledding for fun.

• кататься emphasizes the activity or enjoyment
• ездить is more about going/traveling by some means

Because sledding is normally thought of as a leisure activity, кататься на санках is the standard phrase.

So a learner should remember:

• кататься на санках = the usual way to say go sledding or ride on a sled for fun