Category: "Seasons"

Времена года, сезоны

by Don  

The Russian phrase for "season" in the sense of the time of year is «время года», literally "time of year," and the plural is «времена года» "times of year." There is also a borrowed word сезон with plural сезоны which means the same thing:

— Какое сейчас время года?
— Лето. Разве ты не знаешь времена года?
"What season is it?"
"Summer. Do you really not know your seasons?"
— Какой сейчас сезон?
— Лето. Разве ты не знаешь сезоны?
— Я из Аризоны. У нас только два сезона.
— Правда? Какие?
— «Лето» и «скоро-будет-лето».
"What season is it?"
"Summer. Do your really not know your seasons?"
"I'm from Arizona. We only have two seasons."
"Really? What are they?"
" 'Summer' and 'soon-it-will-be-summer' ."

If you want to specify that something happens during a season, then you use the preposition в followed by the accusative case:

Как я люблю осень! В это время года я люблю гулять, смотреть, как oпадают листья. I really love autumn! During this season I love to take walks and watch the leaves fall.
— Я ненавижу аризонское лето. В этот сезон невозможно заниматься спортом на улице.
— Неправда, можно, но надо надевать шапку, смазывать себя противосолнечным кремом, и носить с собой большую бутылку воды.
"I hate Arizona's summer. During this season you can't play sports outside."
"That's not true. You can, but you have to put on a hat, use sunscreen, and carry a big bottle of water with you."

Note that if you use the names of the seasons—весна, лето, осень, зима—then those seasons go into the instrumental case when you mean "during that particular season":

Осенью я люблю гулять, смотреть, как опадают листья. In the autumn I love to take walks and watch the leaves fall.
Летом нельзя заниматься спортом на улице. In the summer you can't play sports outside.

One last quirk of the seasons is their starting date. In the States we say that winter starts on December 21st or 22nd. In Russia all the seasons start on the first of the month, so winter starts on the 1st of December.

Осень начинается первого сентября. Fall begins on September first.
Зима начинается первого декабря. Winter begins on the first of December.
Весна начинается первого марта. Springs starts on March first.
Лето начинается первого июня. Summer starts on the first of June.

Лето

by Olga  

The Russian word for summer is лето. Over the summer, I like to visit my family in Russia and spend time out in the beautiful weather. I call my family and tell them, “this summer I will come to visit you” «этим летом я приеду к вам в гости». When I am with my family in Russia, I like to visit my grandmother’s огород, which means garden. I say to my grandmother «я люблю работать на огороде летом» “I like to work in the garden during the summer.”

In the summer, Russian people like to buy мороженое ice cream from the ice cream stands. When I want some ice cream, I come up to the ice cream stand and tell the lady «я хочу купить мороженое» “I would like to buy some ice cream.” Another thing I like to do in Russia during the summer is go swimming in the lake. I tell Americans «я люблю купатся в озере» "I like to swim in a lake.”

Зима

by Olga  

The Russian word for winter is зима. In Arizona, the winter is short and warm compared to the winter in Russia which is much longer and colder. Every time Americans ask me about the Russian winter, I say «Зима в России очень холодная и долгая» “The winter in Russian is very cold and long.” I also tell them that it is important to wear warm clothes to avoid getting ill. The Russian word for winter hat is зимняя шапка, the word for winter coat is зимняя куртка, and the word for boots is сапоги.

Many kids in Russia like to build snowmen. The Russian word for snowmen is снеговик. As a child, I would always ask my mom “Можно я построю снеговика?” which means, “Can I build a snowman?” If a male tells someone that he made a snowman, he would say, «Я построил снеговика», whereas a female would say «Я построила снеговика». Children in Russia also like to ride on sleds during the winter. The Russian word for sled is санки.