Breakdown of В декабре мы готовимся праздновать Рождество.
мы
we
в
on / during (a time period)
декабрь
December
праздновать
to celebrate
Рождество
Christmas
готовиться
to prepare
Questions & Answers about В декабре мы готовимся праздновать Рождество.
Why does декабрь end in -е here?
To say "in a certain month", Russian uses the preposition в followed by the Prepositional case. Since декабрь (December) is a masculine noun ending in a soft sign (-ь), that soft sign changes to -е, giving us в декабре.
Why does the verb готовимся end in -ся?
The dictionary form is готовиться (to get ready / to prepare oneself). The -ся ending makes it reflexive, showing that the action reflects back on the subject—we are getting ourselves ready. Without it, готовить usually means to prepare or cook something else (like a meal).
Why do we use the infinitive праздновать (to celebrate) here?
When you have two verbs working together to describe a single action—just like in the English "prepare to celebrate"—the first verb (готовимся) is conjugated to match the subject, and the second verb stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form.
What case is Рождество in?
It is in the Accusative case because it is the direct object of the sentence (the thing being celebrated). However, because Рождество (Christmas) is a neuter, non-living noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its Nominative (dictionary) form.
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