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How to form adverbs of time and frequency in Russian?

By: Anna Classing Fri Feb 28 2025
Russian
Adverbs

In Russian, we often form of time (e.g. “now”) and adverbs of frequency (e.g. “often”) from or , often by adding or . Here are some basic examples:

  • частый[CHAStyi](frequent)часто[CHASta](frequently)

  • дневной[dnivNOY](day)ежедневно[yezhiDNYEVna](daily)

  • утро[OOTra](morning)утром[OOTram](in the morning)

  • начало[naCHALa](beginning)сначала[snaCHAla](from the beginning)

In this article, we’ll talk about what adverbs of time and frequency are, then we’ll take you through the main ways such adverbs are formed in Russian. Ready to have a look? Let’s go!

What are adverbs of time and frequency?

Broadly, adverbs of time describe when something took place, while adverbs of frequency describe how often it took place. Adverbs of time might also sometimes answer questions like “since when,” or “until when.”

Like almost all adverbs in Russian, adverbs of time and frequency are mostly derived from nouns, adjectives, verbs, or numerals.

Some adverbs of time and frequency were formed by combining two different words, in ways that are not completely predictable:

  • cейчас[siCHAS](now)сей[syey](this) + час[chas](hour)

  • завтра[ZAFTra](tomorrow)за[za](after) + утро[OOTra](morning)

  • сразу[SRAzoo](immediately)c[s](from) + раз[ras](one)

However, there are several other common patterns that you’ll see repeated in several adverbs of time and frequency. Let’s have a look!

Adverbs of time and frequency ending in -о

Adding -o[o] is the most common way to turn a Russian adjective into an adverb, it’s like adding “-ly” in English. Therefore, many Russian adverbs of time and frequency use this ending. Here’s how to do it:

  • Start with an adjective with a meaning related to time or frequency

  • Cut off the adjective ending

  • Add -o

And that’s it! You have an adverb of time or frequency! For example:

Adjective
Adverb

частый

CHAStyi

frequent

часто

CHASta

often, frequently

обычный

aBYchnyi

usual

обычно

aBYchna

usually

постоянный

pastaYAnyi

constant, regular

постоянно

pastaYAna

constantly, regularly

скорый

SKOryi

quick

скоро

SKOra

quickly, soon

давний

DAVniy

old, long-term

давно

davNO

a long time ago, for a long time

ранний

RAniy

early

as in “early morning”

рано

RAna

early

as in “arrived early”

поздний

POZniy

late

as in “late morning”

поздно

POzna

late

as in “arrived late”

Adverbs of frequency that start with еже-

To form an adverb of frequency meaning “every minute/day/week/…” you will want to add both the prefix еже-[yezhe] and the suffix -o[o] to a noun representing a time. As we saw above, you will need to remove the noun ending from the base noun. Follow the formula below:

еже-

noun

-o

дневной → ежедневнo

dnivNOY → yezhiDNYEVna

day → daily

Note that the ending of the noun has been deleted!

Я ежеминутнo обновлял страницу.

ya yezhimiNOOTna abnavLYAL straNEEtsoo

I refreshed the page every minute.

However, you can’t do this with every time noun. Here is the full list of such adverbs:

  • ежесекундно[yezhisiKOONDna](every second)

  • ежеминутно[yezhimiNOOTna](every minute)

  • ежедневно[yezhiDNYEVna](daily)

  • ежевечерне[yezhiviCHERnye](every evening) → old-fashioned

  • еженощно[yezhiNOSHCHna](every night) → old-fashioned

  • ежесуточно[yezhiSOOtachna](every 24 hours)

  • еженедельно[yezhiniDYELna](every week)

  • ежемесячно[yezhiMYEsichna](every month)

  • ежеквартально[yezhikvarTALna](every quarter)

  • ежегодно[yezhiGODna](every year)

Tip

You can always use a phrase with the structure below instead of an adverb with еже-:

каждый

KAZHdyi

every

noun

accusative case

еженедельно = каждую неделю

yezhiniDYELna = KAZHdooyu niDYElyu

weekly = every week

ежегодно = каждый год

yezhiGODna = KAZHdyi got

yearly = every year

Check out our post on the accusative case of time in Russian to learn more about phrases like this!

Adverbs of frequency ending in -жды

The suffix -жды[zhdy] can be added to a few numerals to form adverbs showing how many times something happened. There are only four such adverbs in Russian:

однажды

adNAzhdy

once

This can also mean “one day”

дважды

DVAzhdy

twice

трижды

TREEzhdy

three times

четырежды

chiTYrizhdy

four times

Here is an example of how they can be used:

Я трижды был в Москве, но только однажды на Красной площади.

ya TREEzhdy byl v maskVYE no TOLka adNAzhdy na KRASnay PLOshchidi

I’ve been to Moscow three times, but only once to Red Square.

Adverbs of time originating from nouns in instrumental

In Russian, you can use nouns for times of day (e.g. “morning”) or seasons (e.g. “winter”) in the instrumental case as adverbs of time. As long as you use the instrumental case, no other ending is required!

Instrumental case for adverbs of time
Part of the day
Season

утром[OOTram](in the morning)

зимой[ziMOY](in winter)

днём [dnyom](in the afternoon)

весной[visNOY](in spring)

вечером [VYEchiram](in the evening)

летом [LYEtam](in summer)

ночью[NOCHyu](at night)

осенью[OSinyu](in fall)

Adverbs describing duration also come from nouns in instrumental, but in plural as they imply “many” hours / days / weeks etc.:

  • Они могли годами не видеться, но оставаться лучшими друзьями.

    aNEE magLEE gaDAmi nye VEEditsa no astaVAtsa LOOCHshymi droozYAmi

    They could not see each other for years, and still remain best friends.

  • Он целыми днями играет в компьютерные игры.

    on TSElymi DNYAmi igRAyet f kampYUtarnyie EEGry

    He plays computer games for days on end.

Adverbs of time originating from preposition + nouns in genitive

A lot of adverbs of time and frequency were originally prepositional phrases composed of a preposition + a noun. In these phrases, the noun still takes the appropriate case for the preposition in question. For example:

  • c[s](from, since) + genitive

    These adverbs generally answer the question “since when?”, but some of them stepped away from that original meaning, for example:

    снова

    SNOva

    again

    lit. from anew

    сначала

    snaCHAla

    from/at the beginning

    с детства

    z DYETStva

    since childhood

    срода

    SROdoo

    never

    lit. since birth

    used only in negative sentences
  • до[da](until) + genitive

    These adverbs generally mean “until a certain time”, for example:

    дотемна

    datimNA

    until it gets dark

    до сих пор

    da sikh POR

    until now

    lit. until this time

    допоздна

    dapazNA

    until it gets late

  • из[is](from) + genitive

    издавна

    EEZdavna

    since olden times,
    for a long time

    изредка

    EEZritka

    seldom

Conclusion

We have looked at some popular patterns of building adverbs of time that can help you memorize them more easily, or even make one when you need it. They include:

  • Adverbs of time and frequency with suffixes -o and -жды

  • Adverbs of frequency with prefix еже-

  • Adverbs of time originating from nouns in instrumental

  • Adverbs of time originating from prepositional phrases

Ready for some practice? Download the Russian adverbs of time activities below! Happy learning!

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