Breakdown of Каждый год на этот фестиваль съезжаются музыканты.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
год
year
каждый
every
музыкант
musician
фестиваль
festival
съезжаться
to converge, gather (by vehicle)
Questions & Answers about Каждый год на этот фестиваль съезжаются музыканты.
Why does съезжаются mean "gather" when it's based on a verb of motion?
The verb съезжаться combines the prefix с- (meaning "together" or "convergence"), a motion root for riding or driving (-езжа-), and the reflexive ending -ся (indicating doing something with "each other"). Literally, it means "they drive together to meet". Since the musicians are traveling to the festival from various different places, a riding/driving verb is used instead of a walking one.
Why is there a hard sign (ъ) in съезжаются?
The hard sign (ъ) is used as a separator when a prefix ends in a consonant (like с-) and the root starts with the vowels е, ё, ю, or я (like -езж-). It prevents the consonant from blending into the vowel, ensuring you pronounce the prefix clearly before the root.
The English translation says "at this festival". Why does Russian use на этот фестиваль in the accusative case instead of prepositional?
While English focuses on the final location ("at"), the Russian verb съезжаться is a verb of motion focusing on the travel toward the destination. Because there is active motion directing the musicians to the festival, Russian requires the accusative case.
Why doesn't Каждый год (every year) need a preposition like "в" or "на"?
To express that an action happens "every" day, week, month, or year, Russian simply uses the accusative case without any preposition. Because год is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly like the dictionary form (nominative).
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