Languages › Russian Months in Russian: Pronunciation and Examples Share Flipboard Email Print Calendar for May 2019, close-up, schedule of days with working days and holidays in Russia. ClaireLucia / Getty Images Languages English as a Second Language Spanish French German Italian Japanese Mandarin Russian By Maia Nikitina Russian Language Expert M.F.A., Creative Writing, Manchester Metropolitan University Diploma in Translation (IoLet Level 7, Russian), Chartered Institute of Linguists our editorial process Twitter Twitter Maia Nikitina Updated January 10, 2020 The names of the months in Russian come from Latin and can sound similar to English. As with all other Russian nouns, month names change according to the case they are in. Russian months are masculine in gender. They are never capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence. Russian Months Translation Pronunciation Example январь January yanVAR' - Наступил январь (nastooPEEL janVAR') - January began февраль February fyvRAL' - Я приеду в феврале (ya priYEdu ffyevraLYEH) - I will arrive in February март March mart - Восьмое марта (vas'MOye MARtuh) - 8th of March апрель April ahpRYEL' - Первое апреля - День смеха (PYERvaye ahpRYElya - DYEN' SMYEkha) - April 1st is April Fools' Day май May ah - y (as in 'my') - День Победы празднуется в мае (DYEN' paBYEdy PRAZnuyetsya VMAyeh) - Victory Day is celebrated in May июнь June ee-YUN' - Июнь - шестой месяц года (eeYUN' - shysTOY MYEsyats GOduh) - June is the 6th month of the year июль July ee-YULE - В июле у меня отпуск (V eeYUly oo myNYA OHTpusk) - My vacation is in July август August AHVgoost - Август выдался особенно жарким (AHVgoost VYdalsya ahSOHbynuh ZHARkim) - August was particularly hot сентябрь September synTYABR' - В сентябре начинается учебный год (fsyntyabRYE nachyNAyytsa ooCHEBny GOHD) - The academic year starts in September октябрь October akTYABR' - Они уезжают в октябре (aNEE ooyeZHAHyut v aktybRYE) -They leave in October ноябрь November naYABR' - Ноябрь - холодный месяц (naYABR' - haLODny MYEsyats) - November is a cold month декабрь December dyKABR' - Снег пошел в декабре (SNYEG paSHYOL f dyekabRYE) - It began to snow in December Using Prepositions With Names of Months in Russian в - In (Prepositional Case) The preposition в means "in" and is used to indicate that something happens during a certain month. В январе - in January В феврале - in February В марте - in March В апреле - in April В мае - in May В июне - in June В июле - in July В августе - in August В сентябре - in September В октябре - in October В ноябре - in November В декабре - in December Example: - Я начал здесь работать в январе.- I started to work here in January. на - For (Accusative Case) The names of all months remain unchanged when using the preposition "на." Example: - Ему назначили обследование на март.- His tests have been arranged for March. с - From, Since and до - Until (Genitive Case) с / до января - since / until January с / до февраля - since / until February с / до марта - since / until March с / до апреля - since / until April с / до мая - since / until May с / до июня - since / until June с / до июля - since / until July с / до августа - since / until August с / до сентября - since / until September с / до октября - since / until October с / до ноября - since / until November с / до декабря - since / until December Example: - Я буду в отпуске с мая до июля.- I will be on vacation from May until July. Abbreviations Russian names of months are often shortened in writing (such as calendars or diaries) using the following abbreviations: Янв - January Фев - February Мар - Marcf Апр - April Май - May Июн - June Июл - July Авг - August Сен - September Окт - October Ноя - November Дек - December Russian Calendar Russia has been using the Gregorian calendar since 1940, as well as for a short time from 1918 until 1923. However, the Russian Orthodox Church continues to use the Julian calendar. That is why the Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7 and Easter is usually celebrated later than in the West. During the Soviet years, two more calendars were introduced and then canceled. The first one, named The Eternal Calendar, or the Russian Revolution Calendar, abolished the official Gregorian calendar that had been brought in by Vladimir Lenin in 1918. The Eternal Calendar went into effect in the 1920s, with the exact date debated by historians. All religious celebrations were abolished and five new national public holidays were established instead. The main goal of this calendar was to increase workers' productivity, it was decided that the weeks would have five days each, with rest days staggered. However, this did not work as planned, with many families affected by the staggered weeks. T he Eternal Calendar was replaced with another 12-month system which retained the same holidays but increased the number of days in a week to six. The rest day was now on the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 30th of each month. This calendar functioned until 1940 and was replaced by the Gregorian calendar. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Nikitina, Maia. "Months in Russian: Pronunciation and Examples." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/russian-months-4767181. Nikitina, Maia. (2020, August 28). Months in Russian: Pronunciation and Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/russian-months-4767181 Nikitina, Maia. "Months in Russian: Pronunciation and Examples." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/russian-months-4767181 (accessed April 23, 2021). copy citation