Unit 8: Favourite holidays 119
nouns taking this -у� ending include: сад ‘garden’, бе�рег ‘bank’, пол
‘floor’, у�гол ‘corner’, шкаф ‘cupboard’, Крым ‘Crimea’. Note also в
про�шлом году� ‘last year’. This -у� ending occurs only after в and на.
After other prepositions taking the prepositional case (e.g. o, ‘about’),
the regular prepositional ending -e is used: исто�pия o ле�се ‘a story
about the forest’.
Expressions of time
На + accusative is only used to translate ‘for’ in expressions of time
when the subject sets out with the intention of spending a specified
period of time on an activity. There is often a verb of motion in such con-
structions: Я е�дy в Сиби�pь на� год ‘I am going to Siberia for a year’.
Otherwise, the period of time goes into the accusative without на: Я
была� в Сиби�pи год ‘I was in Siberia (for) a year’. In such cases, ‘for’
is often omitted in English.
Упражне�ние 6
Complete the sentences using the correct expression of time.
1 Они� жи�ли на Кавка�зе. . . . Они е�дут на Кавка�з . . . (всё ле�то – на
всё ле�то).
2 Са�ша е�дет рабо�тать в Сиби�рь. . . . Са�ша рабо�тал в Сиби�ри . . .
(год – на� год).
3 Я жду тебя�. . . . Я иду� к Тама�ре . . . (два часа� – на два часа�).
4 Я в Лондо�не. . . . Я е�ду в Лондон . . . (четы�ре дня – на четы�ре дня).
Импровиза�ция
(Audio 1.49)
- Где вы были нa про�шлой неде�ле?
- Reply that you were on holiday (use the verb отдыxа�ть) in the
south of France. - Где вы жи�ли?
- Explain that you stayed in a small hotel, right on the coast, the
weather is very hot at this time of year and every day you went
swimming in the warm sea.