Days take в + accusative. Months take в + prepositional. A date is an ordinal number + the month in the genitive. Years take в + ordinal + году́. Clock time is в + number + час / часа́ / часо́в.
1. Days of the week
Russian weeks start on Monday, and day names are written with a small letter. To say “on Monday”, use в + the accusative: feminine days change -а to -у. Several names are just numbers: вто́рник from “second”, четве́рг from “fourth”, пя́тница from “fifth”.
| Day | Russian | “On …” | Where the name comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | “after the week”: неде́ля once meant Sunday, the day of no work. | ||
| Tuesday | From второ́й, “second”. в becomes во before вт-. | ||
| Wednesday | From “middle”: the middle of the week. | ||
| Thursday | From четвёртый, “fourth”. | ||
| Friday | From пять, “five”: the fifth day. | ||
| Saturday | From “Sabbath”. | ||
| Sunday | “Resurrection”. Neuter, so no change. |
2. Months
The months look familiar because they come from Latin, like the English ones. All twelve are masculine. “In May” is в + prepositional: в ма́е. Each tile shows the month, then “in …”.
3. Saying a date
A date is an ordinal number (fifth, not five) in the neuter, plus the month in the genitive: “the fifth of May”. To say “on the fifth of May”, the ordinal changes to the genitive too. Pick a day and month.
4. Years
Russians say a year like an ordinal: “two thousand twenty-sixth year”. Only the last word becomes an ordinal; the rest stays a normal number. “In 2026” uses в + the prepositional: в … году́.
5. Telling the time
Ask Кото́рый час? (ka-TO-riy chas, “Which hour?”) or Ско́лько вре́мени? (“How much time?”). The answer uses the 1–2–5 rule: час, часа́, часо́в. Choose an hour and minutes.
6. 16 time words you’ll use daily
These need no preposition at all: they work on their own, like “today” or “in the morning”.
7. How long, how soon, how often
English “for”, “in”, “ago” and “once a” each have their own Russian pattern. Most take the accusative.
8. Holidays and occasions
Greetings for special days start with с + instrumental: “(I congratulate you) with…”.
9. Say it in Russian
Choose the correct Russian for each English phrase.