По вечерам мы выпускаем кошку на балкон ненадолго, но не выпускаем её на улицу.

the cat

Breakdown of По вечерам мы выпускаем кошку на балкон ненадолго, но не выпускаем её на улицу.

• вечер: the evening
• улица: the street
• не: not

Questions & Answers about По вечерам мы выпускаем кошку на балкон ненадолго, но не выпускаем её на улицу.

What does по вечерам mean, and why is вечерам in that form?

По вечерам means in the evenings or every evening / on evenings in general.

This is a common Russian pattern:

• по + dative plural can mean on / during / at different times of a repeated period
• so по вечерам = in the evenings
• compare:
  • по утрам = in the mornings
  • по ночам = at night, at nights
  • по выходным = on weekends

The noun вечер becomes вечерам, which is the dative plural form.

Why is выпускаем in the present tense?

In Russian, the present tense of an imperfective verb is often used for habitual or repeated actions.

So мы выпускаем here does not mean only we are letting out right now. It means something like:

• we let the cat out
• we usually let the cat out
• we do this regularly

Because the sentence describes a habit, the present tense is exactly what Russian normally uses.

What aspect is выпускаем, and why is that aspect used here?