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Questions & Answers about Летом жаркий день.
Why is the word for summer written as летом instead of just лето?
Лето is the basic noun for summer. By changing the ending to -ом, it turns into an adverb meaning 'in the summer'. Russian uses this special ending (the Instrumental case) for all seasons, so you do not need a separate word for 'in'!
Where is the verb 'is' in this sentence?
Russian almost always drops the verb 'to be' (like 'is' or 'are') in the present tense. To say 'the day is hot', you just put the words together as жаркий день (literally 'hot day'). The 'is' is completely understood from the context.
Why does the adjective жаркий end in -ий?
In Russian, adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. День (day) is a masculine noun, so its adjective needs a masculine ending. After the letter к, masculine adjectives always take the -ий ending instead of -ый due to a basic spelling rule.
Does летом have to go at the beginning of the sentence?
No, Russian word order is very flexible. You could say Жаркий день летом, but putting the time word at the beginning is a very natural way to set the scene first ('As for summer, the day is hot').