Осенью бабушка часто готовит тыкву с мёдом, а летом — жареные кабачки с чесноком.

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Breakdown of Осенью бабушка часто готовит тыкву с мёдом, а летом — жареные кабачки с чесноком.

• часто: often
• бабушка: the grandmother
• а: and

Questions & Answers about Осенью бабушка часто готовит тыкву с мёдом, а летом — жареные кабачки с чесноком.

Why are осенью and летом used instead of в осень / в лето?

Russian often uses the instrumental case to mean in a certain season.

• осень → осенью = in autumn
• лето → летом = in summer

This is a very common pattern:

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

You can sometimes also use в with seasons in other contexts, but for the general meaning during that season, these instrumental forms are the normal choice.

Why is it тыкву, but кабачки?

Both words are direct objects of готовит (cooks/prepares), so they are in the accusative case.

The difference comes from number and noun type:

• тыква is singular feminine

  • nominative: тыква
  • accusative: тыкву

• кабачки is plural inanimate

  • nominative plural: кабачки
  • accusative plural: кабачки

For inanimate plural nouns, the accusative usually looks the same as the nominative. So: