Language/Russian/Vocabulary/Telling-Time
As a Russian language teacher with 20 years of experience, I know that learning how to tell time in Russian can be challenging for beginners. However, knowing how to express the time is an essential skill to have in any language. In this lesson, you will learn how to tell time in Russian, including how to say hours, minutes, and the difference between AM and PM.
Vocabulary
Before we dive into telling time in Russian, let's first learn some vocabulary words that we will need to understand:
- Час (chas) - hour
- Минута (minute) - minute
- Половина (polovina) - half (of an hour)
- Кварт (kvart) - quarter (of an hour)
- Утро (utro) - morning
- День (den') - day
- Вечер (vecher) - evening
- Ночь (noch') - night
- До (do) - before
- После (posle) - after
Now that you know the important vocabulary words for telling time in Russian, let's learn how to express time.
Telling Time
One of the unique features of telling time in Russian is that you have to use different words for different parts of the day. Here are the basic phrases for telling time in Russian:
- Сколько времени? (Skol'ko vremeni?) - What time is it?
- Который час? (Kotoryy chas?) - What hour is it?
Below are some examples of how to express time in Russian:
Russian | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
Десять часов | Desyat' chasov | Ten o'clock |
Десять часов утра | Desyat' chasov utra | Ten o'clock in the morning |
Двадцать три минуты | Dvadtsat' tri minuty | Twenty-three minutes past the hour |
Девятнадцать часов пятнадцать минут | Devyatnadtsat' chasov pyatnadtsat' minut | Nineteen minutes past nine (in the evening) |
Половина пятого утра | Polovina pyatogo utra | Half past four in the morning |
Десять минут двенадцать | Desyat' minut dvenadtsat' | Twelve minutes to ten |
Note that in Russian, you use the 24-hour format when telling military time (hours after noon). To convert a regular time, just add 12 hours. For example, 1 PM in regular time is 13:00 in military time.
To specify whether it is AM or PM (or morning, afternoon, evening, or night), use the following words:
- утро (utro) - morning (before noon)
- день (den') - day (noon until 6 PM)
- вечер (vecher) - evening (6 PM until midnight)
- ночь (noch') - night (midnight until morning)
To say "in the morning", "in the afternoon", "in the evening", or "at night", simply add the appropriate word after the time of day. For example:
- Два часа дня (Dva chasa dnya) - Two o'clock in the afternoon
- Семь часов вечера (Sem' chasov vechera) - Seven o'clock in the evening
- Полночь (Polnoch') - Midnight
If you want to specify that something happens at a certain time, use the following construction:
- В + nominative case for the hour (e.g. в один час (v odin chas) - at one o'clock)
Conclusion
Congratulations! You now know how to tell time in Russian. Practicing to express time in Russian is essential to mastering the language, so keep practicing until it becomes second nature. In the next lesson of the "Complete 0 to A1 Russian Course", we will be discussing the Nominative Case.
Videos
Telling TIME in Russian - YouTube
Telling time in Russian (everything in 1 video) - YouTube
Beginning Russian. Грамматика: Telling Time On the Hour - YouTube
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