Expression of time: "Когда?" (When?)

The structures of time expression in Russian are grammatically characterized by prepositions and cases depending on what period of time we describe, while we answer the question "Когда?" (When?).

1. If we talk about such periods of time as a moment (момент), second (секунда), minute (минута), hour (час) or day (день) with the preposition "эта" [ehta], "этот" [ehtat] (this), we use the structure: the preposition В [V] + accusative case.

В эту минуту - This minute.
В этот день - This day.

2. For days of week (понедельник - Monday, вторник - Tuesday, среда - Wednesday, четверг - Thursday, пятница - Friday, суббота - Saturday, воскресенье - Sunday) we use the structure: preposition В [v] + accusative case. Pay attention, we use the preposition ВО [vo] with the word "вторник" [va ftornik] - on Tuesday.

Мы уезжаем в понедельник - We leave on Monday.
Во вторник была хорошая погода - It was a nice weather on Tuesday.

3. With the word "неделя" [nidelya] (a week) (this, last, next, etc.) - the structure: preposition В + accusative case.

В прошлую неделю приехали наши друзья - Our friends arrived last week.

4. With the word "месяц" [mesyatz] - a month (this, last, next etc., and with the names of all months) - the structure: preposition В + prepositional case.

В следующем месяце будут выборы - Next month will be elections.
В июне он нашёл новую работу - He found a new job in June.

5. With the word "год" [got] - a year (this, last, next etc., and a numerical order of a year) - the structure: preposition В + prepositional case. You can be confused with the fact that the word "год" retains its form both in the prepositional and dative cases. However, there is a difference in stress in oral speech (in dative - в гОду, in prepositional - годУ).

В этом году много солнечных дней - There are a lot of sunny days this year.
В 2017-ом мы едем в Россию - We'll go to Russia in 2017.

6. If we use the word "год" meaning "это время" (this time), "в этот период времени" (in this period of time), we change the case in the structure: preposition В + accusative case.

В год моей жизни в Италии я выучил итальянский язык - When I lived in Italy, I learned Italian.
В годы войны многие уехали из страны - Most people left the country during the war.

7. With the word "век" [vek] (a century) - the structure: preposition В + prepositional case.

В XX-ом веке сделано много научных открытий - There were a lot of discoveries in the 20th. century.

8. If we use the word "век" meaning "это время" (this time), "в этот период времени" (in this period of time), we change the case in the structure: preposition В + accusative case.

Мы живём в век нанотехнологий - We live in nanotechnologies age.

9. With the expression "это время" (at this time) - the structure: preposition В + accusative case.

В это время дверь открылась и вошёл директор - At this time the door was opened and a doctor came in.

10. With the expression "скорое время" (soon) - the structure: preposition В + prepositional case.

В скором времени начнётся строительство нового дома - The building of a new house will start soon.

11. We use dative case with a date. Attention! This rule is only applied, when we answer the question "Когда?" (When?). If they ask "Какое сегодня число?" (What date is it today?), we use nominative case.

Премьера фильма состоялась 20-го июля 2002-ого года - The movie premiere was on the 20th of July in 2002.