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Questions & Answers about У лютому йде сніг.
What does У лютому mean, and what case is лютому in?
У лютому means “in February.” The word лютому is in the locative case (often called the prepositional case), which Ukrainian uses with prepositions в/у to indicate time (“in” + month).
Why is the preposition у used here instead of в?
Both в and у can mean “in.” The choice depends on euphony (sound‐flow). You normally use в before words starting with most consonants and у before words starting with certain consonant clusters or the consonant в itself. Although в лютому would also be acceptable, many speakers prefer у лютому for a smoother sound.
Why is the verb йде used to express “it is snowing”?
In Ukrainian, the verb йти (“to go”) is used impersonally to describe ongoing precipitation. So йде сніг literally means “snow is going,” but idiomatically it’s “it is snowing.” You’ll see the same pattern with йде дощ (“it is raining”) or йде град (“it is hailing”).
Why is сніг in the nominative case instead of another case like instrumental?
In this impersonal weather construction, сніг functions as the grammatical subject, so it stays in the nominative. Ukrainian weather verbs don’t require a direct object or instrumental after them; the phenomenon itself remains in the nominative.
Why isn’t there an article like “the” or “a” before сніг?
Ukrainian has no definite or indefinite articles. You simply say сніг for “snow,” without any extra word for “a” or “the.”
Could I change the word order to Сніг йде у лютому? Would that sound natural?
Yes. Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible. Сніг йде у лютому shifts the emphasis slightly onto сніг, while У лютому йде сніг emphasizes the time (“in February”). Both are correct.
How would I say “It was snowing in February” in Ukrainian?
You would use the past‐tense form of йти, which is йшов (masculine singular). So you say У лютому йшов сніг.
Can I use a different verb to talk about snow falling?
Yes. Another common option is падати (“to fall”). You could say У лютому падає сніг, which also means “it is snowing.” However, йде сніг is more idiomatic for everyday speech.