# Opening (appointment)



## Vivemafille

How would one translate "opening" in the following context?

a. Hello, Dr. Johnson's office.
b. Hello, this is Mark Green. I have a bad sore throat and need to see the doctor. Does he have any openings today or tomorrow?
a. One moment, Mr. Green. I'll check the doctor's schedule.

meaning: available appointment times, a time when he is free, has nothing scheduled


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## Rosett

You can put "место в расписании".


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## 4elsik

I think we could also say "_свободные сеансы_". As a rule their daily schedule is made the way that each n minutes they call for another patient to examine.

Does he have any openings today or tomorrow?
У него на сегодня или на завтра есть свободные сеансы?


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## Maroseika

4elsik said:


> I think we could also say "_свободные сеансы_".


"Сеанс" can't be used here. "Cеанс" is possible only when some medicine procedures are meant, like massage or physical therapy. In case of medical examination and similar visits it is like already proposed, or, more commonly:
На сегодня или на завтра еще осталась *запись (незанятое время)*?
Могу я *записаться *на сегодня или на завтра?


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## Kirill V.

Maroseika said:


> _Могу я *записаться *на сегодня или на завтра?_


This is the most natural and commonly used option, in my view. You can also add:
_Есть ли свободное время на сегодня или на завтра?
_


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## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> На сегодня или на завтра еще осталась *запись (незанятое время)*?
> Могу я *записаться *на сегодня или на завтра?


"Запись" is a very good way to express "opening", albeit indirect, meaning it's still possible to take an appointment.
If you say just "место" instead of "место в расписании", it would be perfectly understood in the given context, as well:
- У вас/врача есть место на завтра/сегодня/вечер/утро?


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## Drink

Rosett said:


> "Запись" is a very good way to express "opening", albeit indirect, meaning it's still possible to take an appointment.
> If you say just "место" instead of "место в расписании", it would be perfectly understood in the given context, as well:
> - У вас/врача есть место на завтра/сегодня/вечер/утро?



This also has the advantage of translating other constructs such as "How many openings do you have?" -> "Сколько у вас свободных мест?" (although this sounds to me as more likely referring to space than time, so you need to have context)


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## Maroseika

I'm afraid the word место is misleading here. It might refer to the vacant place (bed) in the hospital or something like that, but hardly to the opening hour. Has anybody encluntered this word when making an appointment with the doctor?


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## Drink

Maroseika said:


> I'm afraid the word место is misleading here. It might refer to the vacant place (bed) in the hospital or something like that, but hardly to the opening hour. Has anybody encluntered this word when making an appointment with the doctor?



Well you can clarify it as "свободное место в расписании" to establish the context and then switch to just "место" once context has been established.


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## igusarov

Vivemafille said:


> available appointment times, a time when he  is free, has nothing scheduled


If you really need a _noun_ with that meaning then you can say "*окно*" ("a window"):
"Нет ли у вас окна [на] сегодня или завтра?"

"на" is optional here. However  I don't really like this phrase; for some reason it doesn't sound very  natural to me. "Окно" is most naturally used in the context of free time  between classes in school or university...


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## Maroseika

Drink said:


> Well you can clarify it as "свободное место в расписании" to establish the context and then switch to just "место" once context has been established.



For me both variants sound unnatural. Sick spy will be detected immediately. At least I've never heard the word расписание in this sense. It is used in clinics just as 'opening hours" (Какое расписание у ортопеда? Он принимает по вторникам с 3 до 7), but not as something divided in slots for the patients. To find out whether the slot is vacant, you ask e.g.: "Завтра на два тридцать есть запись?"


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## Drink

You know better than me, but keep it mind that it was Rosett who first suggested this term.


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## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> I'm afraid the word место is misleading here. It might refer to the vacant place (bed) in the hospital or something like that, but hardly to the opening hour. Has anybody encluntered this word when making an appointment with the doctor?


Примеры:
Женская консультация - Сообщество « Посещения врача и ЖК» ... и предлагают _*место на завтра*_. я отказалась- не получается. предложили на четверг и ...
Лучший врач УЗД Калининграда ... А с Мелехиным очень даже повезло освободилось _*место на завтра*_ на утро!
Как раз повезло и было _*место на завтра*_ к Мамиеву.
Очень замечательный врач, но запись большая. Не знаю ... Сейчас позвонила, есть свободное _*место на завтра*_ у Вероники Ковалевой, ...

Кстати, из последнего примера видно, что "запись" в том же контексте может иметь совершенно иное, чем opening, значение.


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## Maroseika

Rosett said:


> Примеры:


I don't think arbitrary examples from the Internet forums may prove or disprove anything in the language. It's very easy nowadays to find almost any kind of word usage there, and we have no reliable instrument to distinguish between literate, illeterate, occasional, regional, jocular and many other kinds of word usage. 



> Кстати, из последнего примера видно, что "запись" в том же контексте может иметь совершенно иное, чем opening, значение.


Yes, the word запись has more than one meaning.


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## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> I don't think arbitrary examples from the Internet forums may prove or disprove anything in the language. It's very easy nowadays to find almost any kind of word usage there, and we have no reliable instrument to distinguish between literate, illeterate, occasional, regional, jocular and many other kinds of word usage. .


The examples given above are perfectly legit. They are found in everyday speech, upon your request.

In case of doubt, you may want to check with a dictionary.
Ефремова: ме́сто
ср. 
1.1. ...
1.2. перен. Время, внимание, которое посвящается, отдается кому-л., чему-л.

The examples help elaborate the issue.



Maroseika said:


> Yes, the word запись has more than one meaning.


In the given example, it's not just another meaning - it's right opposite and may be confusing for non-natives.
"К врачу большая запись" means there's (likely) no opening in the doctor's schedule.


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## Maroseika

Rosett said:


> The examples given above are perfectly legit. They are found in everyday speech, upon your request.
> 
> In case of doubt, you may want to check with a dictionary.
> Ефремова: ме́сто
> ср.
> 1.1. ...
> 1.2. перен. Время, внимание, которое посвящается, отдается кому-л., чему-л.
> 
> The examples help elaborate the issue.



I do not think such examples really can prove anything except of the fact that someone sometimes speaks like that. To what extent this is the standard usage, we cannot conclude without special investigation. My personal experience says this usage is not standard, yours may say something different. That is why it would be more useful to collect more opinions, rather than convincing each other whose experience is more relevant.
As for your reference to the dictionary, I think it means different thing, like "в своей речи он уделил немало места подготовке к отопительному сезону". 



> In the given example, it's not just another meaning - it's right opposite and may be confusing for non-natives.
> "К врачу большая запись" means there's (likely) no opening in the doctor's schedule.


I'd rather understand this that very few openings remained. Otherwise they would say Больше записи нет.
- На завтра к врачу большая запись?
- Да, осталось две записи (or два времени) -1.00 и 2.30. (Время here is colloquial, but widely used).
or
- Нет, можете записываться на любое время.


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## igusarov

Rosett said:


> [...] They are found in everyday speech [...]


Could be. But the first thing that comes to mind when I  hear "место на завтра" is "a seat", "a vacancy in a group", etc. "Free time  slot" is definitely not the primary meaning of that phrase.


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## Rosett

igusarov said:


> Could be. But the first thing that comes to mind when I  hear "место на завтра" is "a seat", "a vacancy in a group", etc. "Free time  slot" is definitely not the primary meaning of that phrase.


When you call a doctor's office to take an appointment, the context doesn't prompt for a seat or a vacancy in a group. The context is the doctor's availability for you.
Otherwise, according to the dictionaries, "место" may have up to 17 meanings.


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## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> I do not think such examples really can prove anything except of the fact that someone sometimes speaks like that. To what extent this is the standard usage, we cannot conclude without special investigation. My personal experience says this usage is not standard, yours may say something different. That is why it would be more useful to collect more opinions, rather than convincing each other whose experience is more relevant.
> As for your reference to the dictionary, I think it means different thing, like "в своей речи он уделил немало места подготовке к отопительному сезону".


Not only someone sometimes speaks likewise. Any time, you can check out the official state Самарский областной клинический онкологический диспансер samaraonko.ru/Voprosy_i_otvety/tags10.html

Здравствуйте. В электронной регистратуре, Вы забронировали _*место к врачу*_. 
В регистратуре ГБУЗ СОКОД необходимо активировать услугу к ...

Efremova's article:
Время, внимание, которое посвящается, отдается кому-л., чему-л.
can be translated to English as:
Time, attention, which is devoted, given to smb., smth. 
and perfectly describes the above mentioned opening in the doctor's schedule in Samara.


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## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> I'd rather understand this that very few openings remained. Otherwise they would say Больше записи нет.
> - На завтра к врачу большая запись?
> - Да, осталось две записи (or два времени) -1.00 и 2.30. (Время here is colloquial, but widely used).
> or
> - Нет, можете записываться на любое время.


Большая запись stands for two openings, and небольшая запись means all openings available for the day?


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## igusarov

Rosett said:


> When you call a doctor's office to take an appointment, the context doesn't prompt for a seat or a vacancy in a group.


Yes! And this is exactly why the phrase with the primary meaning "place, space" sounds strange in the context which calls for "time".


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## Rosett

igusarov said:


> Yes! And this is exactly why the phrase with the primary meaning "place, space" sounds strange in the context which calls for "time".


Well, when taking an appointment at the doctor's office, место prompts for an opening (as described in the OP.)
When looking for a package at the travel agency, or booking a place at the hotel or a seat on board, место prompts for a vacancy.


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