Learn how to tell time in Russian
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| Russian Teachers Answer Your Questions - Lesson #11 - How Do You Ask for the Time in Russian? |
Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do you ask for the time in Russian? |
| Saodat: And how do you tell the time? |
| Michael: At RussianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Consider the following situation: During a school break, Sasha Lee asks her classmate Albina Arndt about the time. They don't want to be late for their next class. Sasha asks, "What time is it?" |
| Sasha Lee: Который час? (Kotoryy chas?) |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: Который час? (Kotoryy chas?) |
| Albina Arndt: Четверть четвёртого. (Chetvert' chetvyortogo.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Саша Ли: Который час? (Kotoryy chas?) |
| Michael: "What time is it?" |
| Альбина Арндт: Четверть четвёртого. (Chetvert' chetvyortogo.) |
| Michael: "It's a quarter past three." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Knowing how to ask for the time, as well as how to tell the time, is fundamental when you're learning Russian. In this lesson, you'll learn exactly these two things. But before we move forward, one thing you need to know first is that the 12-hour and the 24-hour clock systems are both used in Russian. The former is used in everyday conversation, while the latter is used mainly in formal situations. Now, there are several ways to ask for the time in Russian. One way is by saying, |
| Saodat: Кото́рый час? (Kotóryy chas?) |
| Michael: or, "What time is it?" This is the formal or official way to ask for time in Russian. Another way to ask for the time is by saying, |
| Saodat: Сколько времени? (Skól'ko vrémeni?) |
| Michael: This also means, "What time is it," but the only difference is that this phrase is more colloquial and is the one you'll hear more often in daily conversations. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "What time is it?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat as Sasha Lee: Который час? (Kotoryy chas?) |
| Michael: The Russian word for "time" is |
| Saodat: время (vremya) |
| Michael: In the question asked by Sasha, the word used was not literally "time," but "hour," or |
| Saodat: час (chas) |
| Michael: it also means "time of day." |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Albina Arndt says "It's a quarter past three?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Saodat as Albina Arndt: Четверть четвёртого. (Chetvert' chetvyortogo) |
| Michael: Here, Albina used the marker |
| Saodat: Четверть (Chetvert') |
| Michael: followed by the hour, which is in the ordinal of four in the genitive case. So, it literally means "a quarter of the fourth (hour) ." Another way to tell the time if it's a quarter past the hour of three o'clock is by saying, |
| Saodat: пятнадцать минут четвёртого (pyatnadtsat' minut chetvyortogo) |
| Michael:"Fifteen minutes past three" or, literally "fifteen minutes of the fourth (hour have passed)" |
| Michael: if it's more than a half of the hour passed, Russian people will say |
| Saodat: без четверти (bez chetverti) |
| Michael: or |
| Saodat: без пятнадцати четыре (bez pyatnadtsati chetyre) |
| Michael: which literally means "without a quarter (or without fifteen minutes) four." It's similar to how we say "It's a quarter to four" in English, right? |
| Note that, while giving time, Russians refer to the upcoming hour, saying how many minutes of the next hour passed. This may get quite confusing for English speakers, since we usually refer to the hour that just passed. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned some of the most common ways to ask for the time in Russia, as well as how to respond when asked what time it is. Now, let's look at some more examples to memorize what we've learned. Our first example is |
| Saodat: Кото́рый час? (Kotóryy chas?) |
| Сейчас 9:30 утра. (Seychas 9:30 utra.) |
| Michael: meaning, "What time is it? It's 9:30 a.m." |
| Saodat: Ско́лько вре́мени? (Skól'ko vrémeni?) |
| Четверть десятого. (Chetvert' desyatogo.) |
| Michael: This means, "What time is it? A quarter past ten." |
| Saodat: Ско́лько сейча́с вре́мени? (Skól'ko seychásg vrémeni?) |
| Половина пятого (Polovina pyatogo) |
| Michael: meaning, "What time is it now? It's half past five." |
| Saodat: Ско́лько сейча́с вре́мени? (Skól'ko seychás vrémeni?) |
| Без десяти шесть (Bez desyati shest'.) |
| Michael: meaning, "What time is it now? It's ten minutes to six." |
| Saodat: Ско́лько сейча́с вре́мени? (Skól'ko seychás vrémeni?) |
| Без четверти восемь. (Bez chetverti vosem'.) |
| Michael: meaning, "What time is it now? It's a quarter to eight." |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Perhaps you're wondering whether Russians use "o'clock" when expressing time, just as in the English language. As a matter of fact, they do. However, it doesn't work the same way that it does in English. For instance, for most numerals, you would use the word |
| Saodat: часов (chas) |
| Michael: like when you say, |
| Saodat: Сейчас пять часов. (Seychas pyat' chasov.) |
| Michael: or, "It's five o'clock." However, the rules are different for some numerals. If the time is one o'clock, for instance, you just say |
| Saodat: Сейчас час (Seychas chas) |
| Michael: If it's two o'clock, you say, |
| Saodat: Два часа (Dva chasa) |
| Michael: The reason for the differences is that Russian numbers are quite special. When nouns come after certain numbers, their endings change. So, for numbers two to four, the genitive singular form is used, which is |
| Saodat: часа (chasa) |
| Michael: And, for the numbers five and up, the genitive plural is used, which is |
| Saodat: часов (chasov) |
| Michael: It's the last number that determines the ending of the noun, so that |
| Saodat: двадцать один (dvadtsat' odin) |
| Michael: or 21, will use |
| Saodat: час (chas) |
| Michael: and |
| Saodat: двадцать два (dvadtsat' dva) |
| Michael: or 22, will use |
| Saodat: часа́ (chasá) |
| Michael: Meanwhile |
| Saodat: двадцать (dvadtsat') |
| Michael: or 20, will simply use |
| Saodat: часов (chasov) |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: According to famous American anthropologist Edward Hall, the Russian culture is a polychronic culture. Time in Russia is considered |
| Saodat: изменчивый (izmenchivyy) |
| Michael: or "fluid." That means people in Russia like their plans to be flexible, which is why you shouldn't be surprised if a Russian friend of yours suddenly makes a change of plans and postpones a meeting. This is especially true if the reason involves a friend or a relative. You see, Russians value long-term relationships. To them, doing a favor or spending time to help a friend or relative is more important than business meetings. In monochronic cultures, being late, or |
| Saodat: опоздание (opozdaniye) |
| Michael: is considered rude, but this is not the case in polychronic cultures like Russia. In Russia, the individual is more important than time, and deadlines at work are usually flexible. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Saodat: Пока! (Poka!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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