Breakdown of Моя сестра собирается полететь на юг зимой.
сестра
sister
мой
my / mine
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
зимой
in winter
юг
south
собираться
to intend
полететь
to fly
Questions & Answers about Моя сестра собирается полететь на юг зимой.
Why is собирается used here to mean "planning"? Doesn't it mean "to gather"?
Yes, the non-reflexive verb собирать means "to gather" or "to collect". But when you add the reflexive ending -ся, the verb собираться changes meaning to "to plan", "to intend", or "to get ready" to do something.
Why do we use полететь instead of just лететь for "to fly"?
Лететь is an imperfective verb of motion for the general action of flying. By adding the prefix по-, we get полететь, which is a perfective verb that focuses on setting off on a specific, one-time journey. Since she is planning a single upcoming trip, this perfective form is used.
Why is it на юг instead of в юг for "to the south"?
In Russian, compass directions like юг (south) and север (north) always take the preposition на instead of в. Because she is traveling toward a destination, юг is in the accusative case (which looks exactly like the dictionary form here).
Why is the word for "in winter" just зимой without a preposition like в?
To say that an action happens during a certain season or time of day, Russian simply puts the noun into the instrumental case without any preposition. So зима (winter) changes its ending to become зимой (in the winter).
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