Questions & Answers about На прошлой неделе шёл снег.
Why do we use на + Prepositional case here, when the current lesson teaches us to use the Genitive case for dates?
While full specific dates (like "on the fifth of May") use the Genitive case with no preposition, the word неделя (week) follows its own rule. To say "last week," "this week," or "next week," you always use the preposition на followed by the Prepositional case: на прошлой неделе.
Why is the verb шёл (was going) used for snow?
In Russian, weather events like rain (дождь) and snow (снег) are described as "going" rather than "falling." You use the verb идти (to go on foot) to describe them. Because снег is a masculine noun, it takes the masculine past tense form шёл.
Could I use the perfective verb пошёл instead of шёл?
It would change the meaning. The imperfective шёл simply states the fact that it snowed or was snowing for some time. If you use the perfective пошёл, it specifically means "it started to snow" last week.
Why is the verb placed before the subject (шёл снег)?
Russian word order is flexible, but it generally places the new or most important information at the end of the sentence. Starting with the time (на прошлой неделе) and ending with the action and subject (шёл снег) is the most natural way to state that this weather event occurred.
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