Breakdown of В декабре зима и праздник.
и
and
праздник
holiday
зима
winter
в
on / during (a time period)
декабрь
December
Questions & Answers about В декабре зима и праздник.
Why is there no word for "there is" in the Russian sentence?
In Russian, the verb "to be" is almost always left out in the present tense. Instead of using a phrase like "there is", you simply state the subjects directly: зима (winter) and праздник (holiday).
Why does the word for December end in an "e" here (декабре)?
The dictionary form of the month is декабрь. Because we are saying "in" a certain month using the preposition в, the noun must change to the prepositional case. For masculine nouns ending in a soft sign, you drop the soft sign and add -е to get декабре.
Why are зима and праздник placed at the end of the sentence?
Russian word order is flexible but usually puts the most important new information at the very end. Starting with В декабре sets the scene by telling us when, and the end of the sentence reveals what is happening then.
What case are зима and праздник in?
They are in the nominative case, which is the basic dictionary form. Because Russian skips the verb "to be", these two words act as the main subjects of the sentence rather than objects.
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