Days of the week, months, and seasons are not capitalized in Russian. In fact, Russian nouns are only capitalized in two instances- if they appear at the beginning of a sentence or if they are proper nouns (personal names).
A Russian week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. Saturdays and Sundays are considered to be “vykhadnYe dnee” – days off. Mondays-Fridays are considered to be “rabOchiye dnee” or workdays.
понедельник Monday puh-nee-DYEHL’-neek
вторник Tuesday FTOHR-neek
. среда Wednesday sree-DAH
четверг Thursday cheet-VYEHRK
пятница Friday PYAHT-nee-tsuh
суббота Saturday soo-BOH-tuh
воскресенье Sunday vuhs-kree-SYEHN’-yeh
In Russian, the names of the first five days mean the counting of the weekdays; понедельник, Russian for Monday, means “the day after resting” with resting day being Sunday, Lord’s Day. Cуббота (Saturday) came from the Greek Σάββατο meaning Sabbath, day of rest. Воскресенье (Sunday) literally means “resurrection” or Lord’s Day.
The days of the week in Russian have gender and change in cases as other nouns. There are three grammatical genders in Russian: masculine (nouns ending in a consonant), feminine (nouns ending in a or я), or neuter (nouns ending in o or e ). Well, there are several exceptions to the rule, of course.
понедельник – Monday (masculine) вторник – Tuesday (masculine) среда – Wednesday (feminine)
четверг – Thursday (masculine) пятница – Friday (feminine) суббота – Saturday (feminine) воскресенье – Sunday (neuter)
To indicate when something took place: on Monday, on Tuesday, etc., you need to say:
в понедельник во вторник в среду в четверг в пятницу в субботу в воскресенье
Examples:
Я уезжаю в пятницу. Встреча состоится в среду. I’m leaving on Friday. The meeting will take place on Wednesday.
Seasons in Russian
There is a stereotype that it is always cold in Russia. It is not true because Russia is a vast country, and the climate differs in different parts of the country. There are four distinctive seasons in most of the country. The closer you get to the south, the warmer the climate gets. There are many resorts in Southern Russia, especially near the seashores, where the climate is mostly sub-tropical. This summer, the temperatures are over 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade in most of European Russia. Russia uses the Metric system of measurements like many countries of the world.
What is the best time of the year to visit Russia? Is it summer when everything is in bloom? Is it winter with its winter festivals and the Russian New Year? Let’s learn how to say the words for seasons in Russian.
Just like in English, Russian seasons are not capitalized unless they are used at the beginning of a sentence.
зима – winter- zee-MAH
весна –spring- vees-NAH
лето – summer – LYE-tah
осень – fall- OH-seen’
время года [vryé-mya gó-da] – season
времена года [vree-mee-ná góda] – seasons
Examples:
Eмy нрaвится лeто –[Ye-mú nrá-vee-tsa lyé-ta]
He likes summer.
Она не любит осень – [Aná nye lyú-beet óh-seen’]
She does not like fall.
To ask “At what time of the year… ? В какое время года… ? [fkah-KOYEH VRYEH-myah GOH-dah]
“At what time of the year were you born?” В какое время года вы родились? [fkah-KOYEH VRYEH-myah GOH-dah vi rah-DEE-lees’]
летом [lyé-tam] – in summer
зимой [zee-móî] – in winter
осенью [óh-seen’-yu] – in autumn
весной [vees-nóî] – in spring
This concludes the very Basics of Russian class. We hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to learn more, please send your inquiries to ebonjour@kckpl.org or contact us on Facebook Monday-Friday from 3pm to 5pm during “Ask a librarian” sessions.