Breakdown of Днём студенты гуляли.
студент
student (m)
гулять
to walk
днём
in the afternoon / during the day
Questions & Answers about Днём студенты гуляли.
Why does гуляли end in -ли?
гуляли is the past tense of the regular verb гулять (to walk/stroll). In the past tense, Russian verbs don't change based on person (I, you, they), but rather on gender and number. Since студенты (students) is plural, we drop the -ть from the dictionary form and add the plural past tense ending -ли.
Does Днём literally mean "in the afternoon"?
It means "during the day" or "in the afternoon." It comes from the noun день (day). In Russian, you can change the ending of time words to show when something happened. Adding -ём to день creates the adverb днём. You will also see this pattern with morning (утро becomes утром) and evening (вечер becomes вечером).
Could I change the word order and say Студенты гуляли днём?
Absolutely. Russian word order is very flexible. Putting Днём at the very beginning of the sentence simply sets the scene first, emphasizing when the action happened. This is a very natural way to start a sentence when telling a story or describing a schedule.
Does гуляли just mean the physical action of walking?
Not quite! The verb гулять specifically means to take a stroll, to walk for pleasure, or to hang out. If the students were walking with a specific destination in mind, like walking to the university, a completely different Russian verb would be used.
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