Categories: "Time phrases"

Число (часть первая)

by Don  

One of the meanings of the word число is date in the sense of the first of the month, the second, and so forth. Probably the most common usage is this:

Какое сегодня число? What is the date today?
What is today's date?

Since число is a neuter noun, and since words like first and second are adjectives in Russian, the adjective must show up in the neuter singular form when answering the question:

Сегодня первое. Today is the first.

An English speaker will never say “Today is the first date,” but Russians sometimes do include the word число in the response. Of course, when translating that response into English you must leave the word ‘date’ out:

Сегодня первое число. Today is the first.

It is also possible to ask about future and past dates:

— Какое вчера было число?
— Вчера было тридцатое.
“What was the date yesterday?”
“Yesterday was the thirtieth.”
— Какое завтра будет число?
— Завтра будет второе.
“What date is it tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is the second.”

Back when I first started studying Russian, it irritated me that no textbook ever gave a complete set of examples of how to say today's date. Instead they gave a general instruction with a few examples and just assumed the student could get the rest right. That's awful teaching methodology. A non-Russian student has to deal with the quirks of Russian stress, plus he has to correctly generate the neuter form of the adjective. That seems very easy after you have worked on Russian for several years, but at first it's tricky. Rejoice, therefore, ye Russian novices: here I present a complete table of all 31 dates marked for stress so you may double check your work.

Сегодня первое.Today is the first.
Сегодня второе.Today is the second.
Сегодня третье.Today is the third.
Сегодня четвёртое.Today is the fourth.
Сегодня пятое.Today is the fifth.
Сегодня шестое.Today is the sixth.
Сегодня седьмое.Today is the seventh.
Сегодня восьмое.Today is the eighth.
Сегодня девятое.Today is the ninth.
Сегодня десятое.Today is the tenth.
Сегодня одиннадцатое.Today is the eleventh.
Сегодня двенадцатое.Today is the twelfth.
Сегодня тринадцатое.Today is the thirteenth.
Сегодня четырнадцатое.Today is the fourteenth.
Сегодня пятнадцатое.Today is the fifteenth.
Сегодня шестнадцатое.Today is the sixteenth.
Сегодня семнадцатое.Today is the seventeenth.
Сегодня восемнадцатое.Today is the eighteenth.
Сегодня девятнадцатое.Today is the nineteenth.
Сегодня двадцатое.Today is the twentieth.
Сегодня двадцать первое.Today is the twenty-first.
Сегодня двадцать второе.Today is the twenty-second.
Сегодня двадцать третье.Today is the twenty-third.
Сегодня двадцать четвёртое.Today is the twenty-fourth.
Сегодня двадцать пятое.Today is the twenty-fifth.
Сегодня двадцать шестое.Today is the twenty-sixth.
Сегодня двадцать седьмое.Today is the twenty-seventh.
Сегодня двадцать восьмое.Today is the twenty-eighth.
Сегодня двадцать девятое.Today is the twenty-ninth.
Сегодня тридцатое.Today is the thirtieth.
Сегодня тридцать первое.Today is the thirty-first.

Notice particularly that третье ‘third’ has a soft-sign as the next-to-the-last letter, not an o. Notice also that одиннадцатое has not just one н but two in a row as the fourth and fifth letters.

Неделя

by Don  

Неделя is a word that comes from the stem дел- ‘do’ and the negative particle не ‘not.’ It used to mean the day of the week on which you do nothing, in other words Sunday. Bearing that meaning in mind, if you say something happens через неделю “(having passed) through Sunday,” that is in effect saying that it happens the following week. That, I think, is how the old word for Sunday became the modern word for week and now is never used in the meaning of Sunday. It's a regular second declension, soft stem noun:

SgPl
Nomнеделянедели
Accнеделюнедели
Genнеделинедель
Preнеделенеделях
Datнеделенеделям
Insнеделейнеделями

When saying that something happened this/last/next week, the preposition на is used with неделя in the prepositional case:

На прошлой неделе я купил новый французский шампунь и начал мыть им голову. Last week I bought some new French shampoo and started using it to wash my hair.
На этой неделе у меня появилась сыпь, которая покрывает всё темя и весь лоб, мои волосы совсем высохли и начинают крошиться. This week I've developed a rash that covers the top of my head and my forehead. My hair has completely dried out and is starting to disintegrate.
На следующей неделе я остригусь под нуль и буду мазать голову лосьоном, который мне прописал врач. Next week I'll shave myself bald and start using this lotion on my head that the doctor prescribed me.

To say something happened a week ago, you use the postposition назад with неделя in the accusative case:

Неделю назад у меня были красивые, пушистые, блестящие волосы, которые пахли лучше, чем в цветочном магазине. По крайней мере так мне всегда говорили девушки, с которыми я работаю. A week ago I had beautiful, voluminous, shiny hair that smelled better than a flower shop. At least that's what the girls I work with all told me.

To say something will happen in a week, use the preposition через with неделя in the accusative case:

Через неделю я найду себе адвоката. Next week I'm going to find a lawyer.

Как долго идти

by Don  

Today we'll learn about asking “How long does it take to get to such-and-such a place.” Probably the easiest way is to use the phrase «как долго» “how long” followed by a unidirectional infinitive and the prepositions от/до. (От and до are usually used to mean “from” and “to” when talking about distances or times.) Of course, you will want to change the verb depending on the mode of transport:

— Как долго идти от почты до аптеки?
— Недолго. Минут пять.
“How long does it take to walk from the post office to the pharmacy?”
“Not long. About five minutes.”
— Как долго ехать от Москвы до Петербурга?
— На скором поезде туда ехать всего восемь часов.
“How long does it take to get from Moscow to St. Petersburg?”
“On the express train it takes only eight hours.”
— Как долго плыть от Хельсинки до Стокгольма?
— На пароходе семнадцать часов.
“How long does it take to get from Helsinki to Stockholm?”
“By boat seventeen hours.”
— Как долго лететь из Москвы в Париж?
— Только три часа.
“How long does it take to get from Moscow to Paris.”
“Only three hours.”

If you want to ask about how long it will take on a particular occasion, then of course you can use either the past or future as well:

— Как долго будем ехать от Москвы до Петербурга?
— Часов восемь.
“How long will it take to get from Moscow to Petersburg?”
“About eight hours.”
— Как долго вы ехали от Москвы до Петербурга?
— Шестнадцать часов. Не было билетов на скорый поезд.
“How long did it take to get from Moscow to Petersburg?”
“Sixteen hours. There weren't any tickets for the express train.”

The phrase «сколько времени» can replace «как долго» in all those sentences and will mean the same thing.

Кто ещё? Что ещё?

by Don  

We previously discussed the word ещё, which by itself usually means still. When you combine it with кто or что, it ends up meaning “else”:

Что ещё ты хочешь? What else do you want?
Кто ещё там был? Who else was there?
— Мы поговорили о музыке и еде.
— И о чём ещё?
— Ну, и о спорте.
“We talked about music and food.”
“And what else?”
“Well, about sports as well.”
— Я рассказала твой секрет Лене и Маше и…
— Нет! Ради Бога, нет! И кому ещё?
— И Ксюше!
— Нет-нет-нет! Не может быть! Это выше моих сил!
“I told your secret to Lena and Masha and…”
“No! Please, God, no! Who else did you tell?”
“I told Ksenia as well!”
“No, no, no! It can't be true! I can't take it!”

This use of ещё is also possible after other question words as well:

— Мы жили и во Франции, и в Германии.
— И где ещё?
— И ещё в Испании.
“We lived both in France and in Germany.”
“And where else?”
“And also in Spain.”
- Где мы только не были летом: и во Франции, и в Германии, и...
- Где ещё?
- Ещё в Испании были.
“Last summer we went everywhere, both to France and to Germany and…”
“And where else?”
“And also to Spain.”
— Каждую неделю мы будем встречаться три раза: в понедельник, во вторник и…
— И когда ещё? В среду?
— Нет, в четверг.
“Every week we will meet three times, both on Monday and on Tuesday…”
“And when else? On Wednesday?”
“No, on Thursday.”

Потом

by Don  

The word потом can be translated several ways, the first of which is with the word then:

Я пошёл в аптеку и потом в продовольственный магазин. I went to the pharmacy and then to the grocery store.
Мой брат приготовил ужин, и потом убрал квартиру. My brother made dinner, and then he straightened up the apartment.
Путин сначала выдвинул Медведева, а потом его поддержал. (source) Putin first nominated Medvedev and then supported him.

The phrase «а потом?» means “and after that?” or “and then?” It sometimes triggers a rhyming response «суп с котом» “cat soup.” It's a response without a specific meaning. It doesn't mean anything bad will happen. It doesn't mean anything good will happen. It is just thrown in when the speaker is having a cuteness seizure. Or when the speaker doesn't want to be more specific because he is irritated or is being coy or wants to tease the listener.

— Какой у меня будет день! Сначала я пойду в ОВИР за новой визой, потом в ЗАГС, чтобы подать документы на свадьбу, потом надо извиниться перед родителями невесты за грубые слова.
— А потом?
— А потом… суп с котом!
“What a day I'm going have! First I'm going to OVIR for a new visa, and then to ZAGS to fill out the paperwork to get married, and then I have to apologize to my fiancée's parents for offending them.”
“And then?”
“And then… a big blue hen.”

For our foreign readers I should say “a big blue hen” is not a standard English phrase. I simply made up something to rhyme with “and then” to catch the rhyming quality of the Russian phrase.

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