Word
Летом мы едем на юг.
Meaning
In summer we go south.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Летом мы едем на юг.
мы
we
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
ехать
to go (by vehicle)
летом
in summer
Questions & Answers about Летом мы едем на юг.
Why is it Летом and not just Лето or В лето to mean "in summer"?
In Russian, to say "in" a certain season, you use the Instrumental case form of the season's name without any preposition. So the noun лето (summer) simply changes its ending to become летом (in summer).
Why use едем for "go" here instead of идём?
Russian has different verbs for going on foot versus going by transport. Едем means going by a vehicle (car, train, plane, etc.). Since going "south" is usually a long journey, the transport verb is used instead of идём (going on foot).
If going south happens every summer, shouldn't we use the repeating motion verb ездим?
If the speaker meant "Every summer we habitually go south," they would indeed use ездим. By using едем (the verb for a specific, one-way trip), the speaker is talking about a concrete, upcoming plan: "This summer, we are going south."
Why do we use the preposition на here instead of в for "to"?
For compass directions like юг (south), север (north), восток (east), and запад (west), Russian always uses the preposition на. So "to the south" is always на юг.
Why doesn't the word юг change its ending after ?