Word
Я обычно работаю по будням, а отдыхаю по выходным.
Meaning
I usually work on weekdays, and rest on weekends.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Я обычно работаю по будням, а отдыхаю по выходным.
а
and (contrastive)
я
I
работать
to work
отдыхать
to rest
Questions & Answers about Я обычно работаю по будням, а отдыхаю по выходным.
Why do we use по + Dative plural here instead of just using в?
In Russian, to express a recurring routine—doing something regularly on certain days or times—we use the preposition по followed by a time expression in the Dative plural. While you could say в выходные to mean "on the weekend", using по выходным emphasizes the habitual nature of the action, similar to "every weekend" or "on weekends".
Why do будням and выходным have different endings if they are both in the Dative plural?
That is because they belong to different word types! The base word for weekdays is будни, which is a regular noun. Its Dative plural ending is -ям. However, выходные (the weekend/days off) is actually an adjective acting as a noun. Therefore, it has to take the adjective Dative plural ending, which is -ым.
Can I use a singular form with по to say "on the weekend" instead of "on weekends"?
No, to express this specific kind of regular, repeating routine with по, you must use the plural form. It always has to be по выходным or по будням, never singular.
Why does this sentence use а instead of и for "and"?