Летом мы любим играть в волейбол на пляже.

In Russian, names of seasons are very often used in the instrumental case with no preposition to mean during that season.

So:

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

This is a very common time expression pattern.

• Летом мы любим играть... = In summer, we like to play...

Notes:

• в летом is incorrect.
• в лето is not the normal way to say in summer in this meaning.

So летом is best understood as a fixed, very common adverb-like time expression.

Летом is the instrumental singular form of лето.

Here, the instrumental is used in a special adverbial way to express time when something happens, especially with seasons and some other time words.

Base noun:

• лето = summer

Instrumental singular:

• летом

So grammatically, it is still a noun form, but in practice it functions a lot like an adverb: in summer / during the summer.

Yes, Russian can often omit subject pronouns when the meaning is clear from the verb form.

So both are possible:

• Летом мы любим играть в волейбол на пляже.
• Летом любим играть в волейбол на пляже.

Why include мы?

• for clarity
• for emphasis
• because Russian often uses pronouns when the speaker wants to sound a bit more explicit

Since любим already shows we through its ending, мы is not strictly necessary.

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

Pattern:

• любить + infinitive

Examples:

• Я люблю читать. = I like reading.
• Мы любим играть. = We like to play.

So in this sentence:

• мы любим играть = we like to play

This is very similar to English like to play or like playing.

With many games and sports, Russian uses the pattern:

• играть в + accusative

Examples:

• играть в футбол
• играть в теннис
• играть в шахматы
• играть в волейбол

So:

• играть в волейбол = to play volleyball

This is just the normal Russian construction for playing a game or sport.

Do not say:

• играть волейбол in standard beginner Russian grammar

The preposition в is the expected one here.

After играть в, the noun is in the accusative case.

So в волейбол is accusative.

However, волейбол is a masculine inanimate noun, and for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is often identical to the nominative singular.

That is why the form looks unchanged:

• nominative: волейбол
• accusative: волейбол

So even though the form is the same, the case is still accusative because of the pattern играть в + accusative.

Because this sentence describes location, not movement.

Russian often uses:

• на + prepositional for being on / at a place
• на + accusative for movement onto / to a place

Here, the meaning is playing at the beach, so we need location:

• на пляже = at the beach / on the beach

Compare:

• Мы играем на пляже. = We play on the beach.
• Мы идём на пляж. = We are going to the beach.

So:

• на пляже = location
• на пляж = destination

Пляже is the prepositional singular form of пляж.

Base form:

• пляж = beach

After на when it means location, Russian uses the prepositional case:

• на пляже = at/on the beach

This is a very common pattern:

• на работе = at work
• на улице = outside / on the street
• на пляже = on the beach

Yes, Russian word order is more flexible than English word order.

This version is neutral and natural:

• Летом мы любим играть в волейбол на пляже.

It starts with летом to set the time frame first: in summer.

Other word orders are possible, depending on emphasis:

• Мы летом любим играть в волейбол на пляже.
• Мы любим летом играть в волейбол на пляже.
• На пляже мы любим играть в волейбол летом.

These do not all sound equally neutral, but they are grammatically possible.

A good general rule: Russian word order often changes to show focus or emphasis, not basic grammatical roles.

Because the sentence talks about a general preference and a habitual activity, not one completed action.

• любить is naturally used here for a general liking.
• играть is the imperfective verb to play in an ongoing/repeated/general sense.

This fits the idea of:

• what we generally like to do
• what we do repeatedly in summer

A perfective verb would not fit well here, because perfective usually points to a single completed action.

So любим играть means something like:

• we like playing
• we like to play

in a general, repeated sense.

For standard Russian, when talking about playing a sport/game, the normal pattern is:

• играть в + accusative

So with sports and games, this is what you should learn and use:

• играть в футбол
• играть в баскетбол
• играть в волейбол

Using no preposition would sound wrong for this basic meaning.

So for learners, the safest rule is:

• play a game/sport → играть в ...

Grammatically, любить can mean both to love and to like, depending on context.

In a sentence like this, about an activity, it often comes out naturally in English as:

• we like to play
• we love to play

Both are possible, but like is often the more neutral English choice.

So the Russian verb is the same, but English may choose different wording depending on tone.

Yes. In many contexts, на пляже can be translated either as:

• on the beach
• at the beach

The exact English choice depends on what sounds most natural in context.

Russian на often covers both ideas here. The important grammar point is that it marks location with the prepositional case:

• на пляже

So you do not need to force a strict difference every time when translating into English.