Questions & Answers about Возможно, завтра будет снег.
The current lesson is about impersonal expressions. Why does this sentence use the noun снег (snow) instead of an adverb?
When talking about precipitation, Russian usually uses a noun rather than an impersonal adverb. While you could technically say завтра будет снежно (it will be snowy tomorrow), it is much more common to use the noun снег. Because снег is a noun, this sentence isn't actually impersonal; снег is the subject, and it literally translates to 'tomorrow snow will be.'
English uses 'snow' as a verb here ('it will snow'). How does Russian handle this?
Russian doesn't have a single verb for 'to snow'. Instead, it uses the noun снег with a verb of being or motion. Here, будет снег literally means 'there will be snow'. You will also commonly hear снег идёт (snow goes) for the present tense.
What role does возможно play here, and why is there a comma?
Возможно translates to 'possibly' or 'perhaps'. It acts as an introductory word expressing the speaker's degree of certainty. In Russian, such introductory words are always set off by commas from the rest of the sentence.
Could I use the verb 'to go' here, since Russian says 'snow goes'?
Yes! In the future tense, you can say завтра пойдёт снег (literally, 'snow will go'). Using пойдёт focuses on the action of the snow starting to fall, whereas будет снег simply states the fact that there will be snow. Both are very common and natural.
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