There are some special expressions in any language related to time. In Russian, they have different grammatical forms comparing with English and other languages. This article introduces some of these expressions separated in several groups that vary by their meaning and grammatical form. You will learn how to express correctly the time in Russian!
1. Specific days
Grammatically, these words are adverbs formed from nouns.
Vocabulary:
- вчера / yesterday.
- позавчера / the day before yesterday.
- сегодня / today.
- завтра / tomorrow.
- послезавтра / the day after tomorrow.
Here are some example sentences below:
- Вчера был чудесный день. / Yesterday was a great day.
- Я хочу погулять по городу сегодня. / I want to walk around the city today.
- Завтра я поеду на экскурсию. / Tomorrow I will go on excursion.
Some particular dates are usually expressed by ordinal numerals with genitive case. For example:
- Пятого августа будет день нашей свадьбы. / Our wedding day will be on the 5th of August.
2. Parts of the day
Parts of the day are expressed by invariable adverbs which initially were nouns. They go without any preposition in the sentence and can be both at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.
Vocabulary:
- утром / in the morning.
- днём / in the afternoon.
- вечером / in the evening.
Example sentences:
- Утром я встаю рано и принимаю душ. / I get up early and take a shower in the morning.
- Днём я на работе. / I am at work in the afternoon.
Я прихожу домой и ужинаю вечером. / I come back home and have dinner in the evening.
If we talk about specific moments during the day, usually it is expressed by the preposition “в” and its accusative case.
Vocabulary:
- в эту секунду / at this second.
- в этот момент / at this moment.
- в этот час / at this hour.
Example sentences:
- Я смотрел телевизор, и в этот момент в комнату зашла моя дочь. / I was watching the TV and at that moment my daughter entered the room.
- В этот час все обычно спят. / Everybody usually sleeps at this hour.
- Моя любимая команда играет в эту секунду. / My favourite team is playing at this second.
3. Week
“Days of the week” are expressed with the preposition “в” and its accusative case.
Vocabulary:
- в понедельник / on Monday.
- во вторник / on Tuesday.
- в среду / on Wednesday.
- в четверг / on Thursday.
- в пятницу / on Friday
- в субботу / on Saturday.
- в воскресенье / on Sunday.
Example sentences:
- В пятницу мы идём на концерт классической музыки. / On Friday, we are going to the classical music concert.
If the action takes place during a week it is expressed by prepositional case.
Vocabulary:
- на этой неделе / this week.
- на следующей неделе / next week.
- на прошлой неделе / last week.
Example sentences:
- На этой неделе у меня много работы. / I have a lot of work this week.
- Я не ходил в спортзал на прошлой неделе. / I didn’t go to the gym last week.
4. Month and year
“Specific month and year” normally goes with the prepositional case if it is used separately.
Vocabulary:
- в январе / in January.
- в марте / in March.
- в августе / in August.
Example sentences:
- в тысяча девятьсот девяносто пятом году. / In the year 1995.
- Джеймс идёт на языковые курсы русского языка в марте. / James is going to the Russian language course in March.
- В 1995 году Анна пошла в школу. / Anna went to school in the year 1995.
If there is a date with a month and a year it is expressed by prepositional case + genitive case.
Example sentences:
- в марте две тысячи восьмого года. / in March 2008.
- в апреле тысяча девятьсот восьмидесятого года. / in April 1980.
- Антон родился в апреле 1980 года. / Anton was born in April 1980.
5. Periods of time
The most common expressions that are used with accusative.
Vocabulary:
- назад / ago.
- через / in.
- каждый (каждую) / every.
Example sentences:
- Пять лет назад Наталия была замужем. / 5 years ago Natalya got married.
- Через месяц Андрей будет жить в Англии. / Andrew will live in England in one month’s time.
- Каждый год я провожу лето в Cанкт-Петербурге. / Every year, I spend my summer’s in St. Petersburg.
- Каждую пятницу я еду в другой город. / Every Friday, I travel to another city.
If there is an action that has happened before or after some event, we then use the instrumental and genitive case.
Vocabulary:
- перед уроком / before the lesson.
- экзаменом / exam.
- поездкой / trip.
- после завтрака / after breakfast.
- работы / work.
- перерыва / break.
Example sentences:
- Таня всегда делает домашнее задание перед уроком. / Tanya always does her homework before the lesson.
- Мне нужно купить билеты на поезд перед поездкой. / I need to buy train tickets before the trip.
- Я обычно не ложусь спать перед экзаменом. / Usually, I don’t go to bed before the exam.
- После работы Владимир всегда чувствует себя уставшим. / Vladimir always feels tired after work.
- Сергей будет играть на гитаре после перерыва. / Sergey will play guitar after his break.
- После завтрака все пошли в парк. / After breakfast, everybody went to the park.
6. Frequency words
There are some adverbs in Russian that specifies the frequency of the action.
Vocabulary:
- обычно / usually.
- редко / rarely.
- иногда / sometimes.
- часто / often.
- никогда / never.
- всегда / always.
Example sentences:
- Обычно я еду на работу на машинe. / Usually, I commute to work by car.
- Ирина редко ходит по магазинам. / Irina rarely goes shopping.
- Иногда он изучает китайский язык вечером. / Sometimes he studies Chinese in the evening.
- Мы часто встречаем новых друзей, когда этого не ожидаем. / We often meet new friends when we don’t expect it.
- Елена никогда не думала о других людях. / Elena has never thought about other people.
- Михаил всегда знает, что сказать. / Michael always knows what to say.
The position of all these time expressions is not fixed and can be different in a sentence. I really hope that this article can help those who read it brush up their Russian!