Telling Time & Days of the Week
Schedules are where all of Chapter 2 comes together: numbers, cases and daily life in one place. This is also the chapter checkpoint — if you can plan a week in Russian, everything before it stuck.
What Time Is It?
Который час? — Сейчас два часа.
What time is it? — It's two o'clock.
Note: The counting rule strikes again: час, часа, часов.
| After | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | час | Сейчас час. — It's one o'clock. |
| 2–4 | часа́ | два часа, три часа |
| 5+ | часо́в | пять часов, одиннадцать часов |
For minutes, everyday Russian happily goes digital: 15:30 — пятнадцать тридцать.
At Two
В + the hour = at:
Встреча в семь часов.
The meeting is at seven o'clock.
Note: в два часа — at two; в семь часов — at seven.
The Week
| Day | English | on that day |
|---|---|---|
| понедельник | Monday | в понедельник |
| вторник | Tuesday | во вторник |
| среда | Wednesday | в среду |
| четверг | Thursday | в четверг |
| пятница | Friday | в пятницу |
| суббота | Saturday | в субботу |
| воскресенье | Sunday | в воскресенье |
Times of Day
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| утром | in the morning |
| днём | in the afternoon |
| вечером | in the evening |
| ночью | at night |
| сегодня / завтра / вчера | today / tomorrow / yesterday |
Я работаю в среду утром, а вечером я свободен.
I work on Wednesday morning, and in the evening I'm free.
Note: Stack day + time of day and your whole calendar speaks Russian.
Common Mistakes
- Пять часа. Five and up take часов: пять часов.
- Сегодня pronounced as written. The г sounds like в: “se-VOD-nya”. A famous exception.
- “On Sunday” with the wrong case. В воскресенье — neuter, so it looks unchanged, but it's the same в + accusative pattern.
What You Can Do Now
You can tell the time, make appointments, and describe your entire week — which day, which hour, morning or evening. Chapter 2 complete: you can live a full ordinary day in Russian.