Russian Days of the Week and Months
Days, months, and dates are CEFR A1 essentials — they show up the moment you book anything, schedule a class, or read a Russian website. The good news: there are only seven days, twelve months, and four seasons, and they all have logical etymologies that make them easier to remember than they look. This guide covers all of it with stress marks, pronunciation, and the case rules you need to actually use them in sentences.
- All seven days of the week with stress and meaning
- All twelve months and the four seasons
- How to say "on Monday," "in March," "this week"
- Writing and saying dates the Russian way
- Why Russian days and months aren't capitalised
The Seven Days of the Week
Russian days are usually written in lowercase — unlike English. Each day has a clear etymology rooted in counting from the start of the week.
- Понеде́льник (pa-nee-DYEL-nik) — Monday. Literally "after the week off" (after Sunday rest).
- Вто́рник (FTOR-nik) — Tuesday. From второ́й (second) — the second day.
- Среда́ (sree-DAH) — Wednesday. Literally "middle" — the middle of the week.
- Четве́рг (cheet-VYERG) — Thursday. From четвёртый (fourth) — the fourth day.
- Пя́тница (PYAT-nee-tsa) — Friday. From пя́тый (fifth) — the fifth day.
- Суббо́та (soo-BO-ta) — Saturday. From the Hebrew Shabbat via Greek.
- Воскресе́нье (vas-kree-SYEN-ye) — Sunday. From воскресе́ние (resurrection) — the day Christ rose.
Russian days are the simplest in any Slavic language: counting + meaning. Среда́ is "middle." Воскресе́нье is "resurrection." Once you see the pattern, the days stop being random sounds and become a story.
"On Monday" — The Accusative Case Trick
To say "on a day," Russian uses the preposition в + the accusative case of the day:
- в понеде́льник — on Monday
- во вто́рник — on Tuesday (во used before consonant clusters, similar to "an" before vowels in English)
- в сре́ду — on Wednesday (stress shifts: среда́ → сре́ду)
- в четве́рг — on Thursday
- в пя́тницу — on Friday
- в суббо́ту — on Saturday
- в воскресе́нье — on Sunday
Я рабо́таю в понеде́льник. — I work on Monday. Уви́димся в пя́тницу! — See you Friday! В сре́ду у нас уро́к ру́сского. — On Wednesday we have a Russian lesson.
среда́ → в сре́ду — the stress moves to the first syllable in the accusative form. This is mobile stress (we cover the full picture in our Russian word stress guide). It catches every learner off guard.
"Every Monday" — repeating action
To say every Monday, every week, use по + dative plural:
- по понеде́льникам — on Mondays / every Monday
- по вто́рникам — every Tuesday
- по сре́дам — every Wednesday
- по четверга́м — every Thursday
- по пя́тницам — every Friday
- по суббо́там — every Saturday
- по воскресе́ньям — every Sunday
Я хожу́ в спортза́л по вто́рникам и пя́тницам. — I go to the gym on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Twelve Months
Russian months are borrowed from Latin (via Greek), so most of them sound similar to English:
- янва́рь (yan-VAR') — January
- февра́ль (feev-RAL') — February
- март (mart) — March
- апре́ль (ap-RYEL') — April
- май (may) — May
- ию́нь (ee-YOON') — June
- ию́ль (ee-YOOL') — July
- а́вгуст (AHV-goost) — August (the only month with stress on the first syllable)
- сентя́брь (seen-TYABR') — September
- октя́брь (ak-TYABR') — October
- ноя́брь (na-YABR') — November
- декабр́ь (dee-KABR') — December
Like days of the week, months are written in lowercase in Russian. Writing Январь with a capital looks like a learner mistake.
Other Slavic languages — Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Belarusian — kept native Slavic month names tied to seasonal events (e.g., Polish kwiecień = "April / blossoming month"). Russian is the outlier: under Peter the Great's modernisation in the early 18th century, the Latin names became standard. So январь, февраль, март feel familiar to English speakers — that's a free win in Russian vocabulary.
"In January" — Saying When
To say "in" a month, use the preposition в + the prepositional case (most months end in -е):
- в январе́ — in January
- в феврале́ — in February
- в ма́рте — in March
- в апре́ле — in April
- в ма́е — in May
- в ию́не — in June
- в ию́ле — in July
- в а́вгусте — in August
- в сентябре́ — in September
- в октябре́ — in October
- в ноябре́ — in November
- в декабре́ — in December
Я роди́лся в ма́е. — I was born in May. В декабре́ в Москве́ хо́лодно. — In December, it's cold in Moscow.
Notice that months ending in -арь, -ябрь, -абрь shift stress to the ending in the prepositional case: янва́рь → в январе́, сентя́брь → в сентябре́. This is a regular pattern, not an exception.
The Four Seasons
- зима́ (zee-MAH) — winter
- весна́ (vees-NAH) — spring
- ле́то (LYE-ta) — summer
- о́сень (O-syen') — autumn / fall
To say "in the [season]", use the instrumental case:
- зимо́й — in winter
- весно́й — in spring
- ле́том — in summer
- о́сенью — in autumn
Я люблю́ путеше́ствовать ле́том. — I love to travel in the summer. Зимо́й в Сиби́ри о́чень хо́лодно. — In winter, it's very cold in Siberia.
Russian uses the instrumental case for time spans without a preposition (утром — in the morning, ночью — at night, вечером — in the evening, летом — in the summer). It's a beautiful, compact construction that exists in no major Romance or Germanic language.
Writing and Saying Dates
Russians write dates day-month-year, often with the month written out:
- 15 ма́я 2025 го́да — May 15, 2025 (formal)
- 15.05.2025 — 15/05/2025 (numeric)
- 15.5.25 — short form, common in handwriting
When saying a date, use the ordinal number + genitive month:
- пе́рвое ма́я — the first of May (literally: "first of May")
- двадца́тое октября́ — the twentieth of October
- тридца́тое декабря́ — the thirtieth of December
The structure is: ordinal number (neuter, ends in -ое/-ое) + genitive case month (ends in -я or -а).
Сего́дня пе́рвое ма́я. — Today is the first of May. Мой день рожде́ния — двадца́тое октября́. — My birthday is October 20th.
To say "on the [date]", use the genitive of the ordinal:
- Я уезжа́ю пе́рвого ма́я. — I'm leaving on the first of May.
- Уро́к был два́дцать тре́тьего октября́. — The lesson was on the 23rd of October.
Useful Calendar Phrases
- сего́дня (see-VOD-nya) — today
- за́втра (ZAHV-tra) — tomorrow
- вчера́ (vchee-RAH) — yesterday
- послеза́втра (po-slee-ZAHV-tra) — the day after tomorrow
- позавчера́ (po-zaf-chee-RAH) — the day before yesterday
- на э́той неде́ле — this week
- на про́шлой неде́ле — last week
- на сле́дующей неде́ле — next week
- в э́том ме́сяце — this month
- в про́шлом ме́сяце — last month
- в сле́дующем ме́сяце — next month
- в э́том году́ — this year (notice the irregular в году́, not в го́де)
— Когда́ у тебя́ день рожде́ния? — Че́рез неде́лю, в сле́дующий понеде́льник. (In a week, next Monday.)
The Russian Working Week
A few cultural notes that help when scheduling lessons or meetings:
- The work week is Monday to Friday — рабо́чая неде́ля.
- Saturday and Sunday are weekend days — выходны́е (literally "exit days," days off).
- Среда́ (Wednesday) is sometimes called the middle of the week — середи́на неде́ли — and is a common day for after-work meetings.
- Пя́тница (Friday) is informally celebrated as the start of the weekend, with the saying Слава Богу, пятница! — Thank God, it's Friday!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Russian days of the week and months capitalised?
No. Days, months, and seasons are written in lowercase in Russian: понеде́льник, ма́рт, зима́. Writing Январь with a capital is a common beginner mistake from English habits. The exception is when a day or month starts a sentence.
What case do I use after "on Monday" vs. "in March"?
- On + day = в + accusative: в понеде́льник, в сре́ду
- In + month = в + prepositional: в январе́, в ма́е
- In + season = instrumental, no preposition: зимо́й, весно́й, ле́том, о́сенью
This is a CEFR A2 grammar point and one of the cleanest uses of Russian cases — three cases, three time meanings.
Why does среда shift stress when I say "on Wednesday"?
Russian has mobile stress — many feminine nouns ending in -а shift stress to the stem in the accusative singular: среда́ → сре́ду, голова́ → го́лову, рука́ → ру́ку. We unpack this in our Russian word stress guide.
Are Russian month names different from other Slavic languages?
Yes. Russian uses the Latin-borrowed names (январь, февраль, март...). Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, and Belarusian use native Slavic names tied to seasonal events. So Russian январь is closer to English January than to Ukrainian січень.
How do Russians read dates aloud?
Day-month-year, with the day as an ordinal number in the nominative, and the month in the genitive: пятна́дцатое ма́я две ты́сячи два́дцать пя́того го́да — "the fifteenth of May, two thousand twenty-fifth year." The year is also expressed as an ordinal.
The Bottom Line
Russian days and months are easier than they look — counting-based logic for days, Latin-borrowed words for months. The hard part is the case after the preposition, not the vocabulary itself. Memorise day + accusative and month + prepositional, and you can talk about your week from your first month of study.
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