Breakdown of Зимой северяне уезжают на юг.
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
зимой
in winter
юг
south
уезжать
to leave (by vehicle)
Questions & Answers about Зимой северяне уезжают на юг.
Why is "northerners" северяне instead of северяни?
Nouns ending in -янин or -анин (often used for people from specific regions or nationalities) have a special plural form. They drop the -ин suffix and add -е for the nominative plural. So северянин (a northerner) becomes северяне.
Why use уезжают instead of уходят for "leave"?
Going to the south implies long-distance travel, so you need a verb of motion for transport (riding or flying) rather than walking. The prefix у- adds the meaning of leaving or going away, creating the verb уезжать.
Why is it на юг and not в юг?
Points of the compass (north, south, east, west) always take the preposition на instead of в. Because the northerners are moving toward a destination, юг is in the accusative case.
Why is зимой used to mean "in winter"?
Зимой is the instrumental case of зима (winter). In Russian, seasons and parts of the day are put in the instrumental case to act as an adverb meaning "during" or "in" that time.