Breakdown of Твой кот неделями пропадает на улице.
кот
cat
улица
street
твой
your [informal]
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
Questions & Answers about Твой кот неделями пропадает на улице.
Why is неделями in the instrumental case here?
Неделями is the instrumental plural of неделя (week). When plural time words are used in the bare instrumental case, they express an extended, continuous duration, often translating to 'for weeks' or 'weeks at a time'. It emphasizes the frustratingly long or repetitive nature of the time spent.
Why is the imperfective verb пропадает used instead of perfective?
Because this is a recurring event. The imperfective пропадает shows that the cat goes missing habitually. If you used a perfective past tense like пропал, it would mean the cat disappeared once and is currently missing ('Your cat has disappeared').
Doesn't на улице literally mean 'on the street'?
Yes, literally it means 'on the street', but in Russian, на улице is the standard, everyday way to say 'outside' or 'outdoors'. Here, the cat is just hanging out outside, not necessarily sitting in the middle of a literal street.
How is неделями different from saying несколько недель (for a few weeks)?
Using an accusative phrase like несколько недель simply states a neutral duration ('for a few weeks'). Неделями, using the instrumental, has a more emphatic tone, stressing that the absence drags on for whole weeks at a time. It highlights the vastness of the duration rather than a specific count.