Breakdown of Вчера вечером он бродил по улицам.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
улица
street
вчера
yesterday
по
along, around
вечер
evening
бродить
to wander
Questions & Answers about Вчера вечером он бродил по улицам.
The lesson is about по + dative plural for routines. Why is по улицам used here if it means 'through the streets'?
While this lesson focuses on по + dative plural for temporal routines (like по вечерам meaning 'in the evenings'), this exact same grammatical structure is also used for space. Spatially, по + dative plural means moving 'along,' 'around,' or 'through' multiple surfaces or locations. Here, he is moving aimlessly through multiple streets (улицам).
What is the difference between ходил and бродил?
бродил (from бродить) is a multidirectional verb of motion that specifically means 'to wander' or 'to roam'. Unlike ходил, which just means general walking or making round trips, бродил emphasizes that the movement was aimless, relaxed, or without a specific destination.
Why is there no preposition used for вчера вечером (yesterday evening)?
Russian doesn't need one! вчера is the adverb for 'yesterday', and вечером is the instrumental case of вечер (evening) acting as a temporal adverb meaning 'in the evening'. You just put them next to each other to say 'yesterday evening'.
Is улицам in the dative plural case here?
Yes. For feminine nouns ending in -а like улица, the dative plural takes the ending -ам, giving us улицам. This case is triggered by the preposition по.
Learn Вчера вечером он бродил по улицам and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free