Завтра мы собираемся играть в теннис на стадионе.

Tomorrow we are going to play tennis at the stadium.

Breakdown of Завтра мы собираемся играть в теннис на стадионе.

• на: at
• мы: we
• завтра: tomorrow
• собираться: to be going to

Questions & Answers about Завтра мы собираемся играть в теннис на стадионе.

Why is собираемся used here? Does it literally mean we are gathering?

In this sentence, собираться + infinitive is a very common pattern meaning to be going to do something or to intend to do something.

So:

• мы собираемся играть = we are going to play / we plan to play

By itself, собираться can also mean to get together, to get ready, or to gather oneself, depending on context. But when it is followed by an infinitive, it usually means to be planning/intending to do that action.

So here, you should understand it as a future plan, not as we are physically gathering to play.

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Why is играть in the infinitive, not играем?

Because after собираться, Russian normally uses the infinitive of the main action.

• мы собираемся играть = we are going to play
• not мы собираемся играем

This works much like English to be going to + verb:

• We are going to play
• not We are going to we play

So:

• собираемся = the conjugated verb
• играть = the action being planned

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