# Tellin the time



## karim37

How do I tell the time in Russian?
I know for 1 o'clock you say один час and 2:00 два часа which continues in the same form until 5:00 пять часов and the rest takes the same form. 
But what about 4:15 do you say something like a quarter past four or three quarters to five (like in some languages)?
And 2:30? Is it like half past 2 or half to 3?
Are there any rules I need to get my head round?


----------



## morzh

The quarters/halves are said his way:

1:15 (qt. past) - 1) Час-пятнадцать (one-fifteen) , 2) Четверть второго (quarter after (past) one).
1:45 (qt. to)    - 1)Без пятнадцати два (fifteen to two), 2) Час-сорок пять (one-forty five), 3) Без четверти два (quarter to two)
1:30 (half past)  1) час-тридцать (one-thirty), 2)пол-второго (half past one) 3) половина второго (same as before).


----------



## Maroseika

1.15 is also used to be said as 15 минут второго. And only this model is used for the time not muliple of 15 minutes:
двадцать минут третьего, без десяти семь, etc.


----------



## karim37

Thanks!
1:15 Четверть второго if I am not mistaken translates literally as quarter second and 1:30 пол-второго as half second.
So would 4:15 be Четверть *пятый
*and 2:30 пол *третий *?*
*


----------



## Maroseika

karim37 said:


> пол-второго
> 
> 
> 
> полвторого - because hyphen is used with пол... only before a vowel, л or proper name: пол-Бостона, пол-лимона, пол-апельсина.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So would 4:15 be Четверть *пятый
> *and 2:30 пол *третий *?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Четверть пятого и полтретьего.
> There is genitive because the full implied form is четверть пятого часа, половина третьего часа.
Click to expand...


----------



## karim37

Maroseika said:


> karim37 said:
> 
> 
> 
> полвторого - because hyphen is used with пол... only before a vowel, л or proper name: пол-Бостона, пол-лимона, пол-апельсина.
> 
> 
> Четверть пятого и полтретьего.
> There is genitive because the full implied form is четверть пятого часа, половина третьего часа.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How do you pronounce полтретьего? I have noticed that the r does not always sound like g.  I heard the above word pronounced as pultritsilva. Could that be right?
Click to expand...


----------



## karim37

I have been trying to establish a pattern to make it easier to learn.
For 2:30 could I say  половина триого? and also половина ....ого for other numbers?
Is пол just short for половина and exactly the same?


----------



## Maroseika

karim37 said:


> Maroseika said:
> 
> 
> 
> How do you pronounce полтретьего? I have noticed that the r does not always sound like g.  I heard the above word pronounced as pultritsilva. Could that be right?
> 
> 
> 
> No, it could not. Where from can be "l" and "ts" there??
> It is more or less like [p*o*ltr'*e*t'əva]. There are two stresses, the first is weaker than the second.
> 
> *го* in the endings of the adjectives and participles is always pronounced as [va].
Click to expand...


----------



## Maroseika

karim37 said:


> I have been trying to establish a pattern to make it easier to learn.
> For 2:30 could I say половинатриого? and also половина ....ого for other numbers?


Not exactly. You are trying to use the cardinal numerals (like три) while here you need the ordinal numerals (like третий). The reason is that what's meant is not три but третий (i.e. третий час):
половина третьего часа > полтретьего часа > полтретьего.




> Is пол just short for половина and exactly the same?


Yes.


----------



## RhoKappa

Here is a quiz for you.  How do you say 12:15?  Most textbooks fail to mention it.  The correct answer: четверть перого.  The time from 12:00 to 1:00 is the first hour, hence перого.
     For the first half of any hour (i.e., 0 minutes to 30), the hour is in the genetive.  For the second half of any hour (30-0 minutes) the minutes are in the genetive following the preposition без, and the following hour is in the nominative.
     It will be a little complicated at first, but it will be easy once you get the hang of it.  The simplest approach if you still have difficulty is to simply read out the numbers of the time.


----------



## Orlin

RhoKappa said:


> Here is a quiz for you. How do you say 12:15? Most textbooks fail to mention it. The correct answer: четверть первого. The time from 12:00 to 1:00 is the first hour, hence первого.


You've made a typo, haven't you?


----------



## Saluton

morzh said:


> The quarters/halves are said his way:
> 1:15 (qt. past) - 1) Час пятнадцать (one fifteen)
> 1:45 (qt. to)    - 2) Час сорок пять (one forty five)
> 1:30 (half past)  1) час тридцать (one thirty), 2) полвторого (half past one)


No hyphens.


----------



## RhoKappa

Questions for the native speakers: is it perfectly acceptable to simply read the numbers out? For example, for 3:30 just say три трицать? Which is more common, verbalizing the numbers, or the longer form mentioned in the above posts?


----------



## Orlin

RhoKappa said:


> Questions for the native speakers: is it perfectly acceptable to simply read the numbers out? For example, for 3:30 just say три тридцать? Which is more common, verbalizing the numbers, or the longer form mentioned in the above posts?


Mind the spelling.
I'm not native, but saying e. g. три тридцать or пять сорок пять sounds (more) formal to me.


----------



## Rosett

RhoKappa said:


> Here is a quiz for you. How do you say 12:15? Most textbooks fail to mention it. The correct answer: четверть перого. .


Можно сказать 'двенадцать с четвертью'.


----------



## morzh

RhoKappa said:


> Questions for the native speakers: is it perfectly acceptable to simply read the numbers out? For example, for 3:30 just say три трицать? Which is more common, verbalizing the numbers, or the longer form mentioned in the above posts?



Mostly yes.

But when the "hours" is "1", you read it as "час" ("hour").

In the rest of the cases you can just say number:

12:45 is "двенадцать - сорок пять".
3:27 is "три - двадцать семь".
etc etc

PS. As Saluton noticed, hyphens are not needed; however I put them here to draw attention to some logical separation between hours and minutes as otherwise for a foreigner it may be confusing to read.



Saluton said:


> No hyphens.



Yes, thanks, I know - I explained why I do it above.


----------



## Sobakus

RhoKappa said:


> Questions for the native speakers: is it perfectly acceptable to simply read the numbers out? For example, for 3:30 just say три трицать? Which is more common, verbalizing the numbers, or the longer form mentioned in the above posts?



The longer forms are more common, the simple ones sound either formal(like when you state exact time) or lazy/childish. Сhildren are often being lazy about memorizing the descriptive forms, I've had some trouble with them myself, heh.


----------



## Maroseika

RhoKappa said:


> Questions for the native speakers: is it perfectly acceptable to simply read the numbers out? For example, for 3:30 just say три трицать? Which is more common, verbalizing the numbers, or the longer form mentioned in the above posts?


It sound quite formal and therefore looks perfect in the  official announcements or when you are making an appointment, but not in the everyday speech.
And by the way, one way is not longer than another" полчетвертого or три тридцать are equally time-consuming and tiresome.


----------



## RhoKappa

Also, what about noon/midnight?  They translate to полдень/полночь.  I once used them in a sentence while speaking to native speakers and they told me that it is better to say двенадцать instead.  So полдень/полночь are not commonly used in everyday conversation?


----------



## Natalisha

RhoKappa said:


> Also, what about noon/midnight?  They translate to полдень/полночь.  I once used them in a sentence while speaking to native speakers and they told me that it is better to say двенадцать instead.  So полдень/полночь are not commonly used in everyday conversation?


I don't think we use the words "полдень" and "полночь" in our everyday speech. But I hear them on the radio almost every day, for example "В столице полночь."


----------



## Maroseika

RhoKappa said:


> Also, what about noon/midnight?  They translate to полдень/полночь.  I once used them in a sentence while speaking to native speakers and they told me that it is better to say двенадцать instead.  So полдень/полночь are not commonly used in everyday conversation?


Yes, три часа пополуночи or три часа пополудни sounds bookish and obsolete. We use to say час дня or два часа ночи, одиннадцать утра or десять вечера, etc.
But on the other hand, встретимся на кладбище ровно в полночь sounds quite natural.


----------



## morzh

As an answer to the question "what time is it?" "полдень and полночь" are not typically used.

But I think in English it is the same: it is used as "we'll meet at noon time" or "it is noon", or "around midnight" and so on, when you just say which point of time it is without having to answer to a question of  what time it is.

When someone asks you about the time, the answer is usually "12 noon",, or "12", or "12 midnight" or "12 am 12pm"


----------



## RhoKappa

In English, noon and midnight are quite commonly used.  That was why I tried to say it in Russian, sounding awkward in the process.


----------



## morzh

Well, here's a question: would you answer the question "what time is it?" as:

1. It's Noon (It's midnight).
2. It's 12 Noon. (It's 12 Midnight).

That is, would you still use "12" when using "noon"?

I am asking as I never ever heard it used alone without the number as the answer. As a statement "It's midnight - I have to split", or just as "It's midnight / noon" (after looking at the watch) - yes, heard many times, but not as the answer to "what time is it?".
----
In Russian, I think, when you ask time, the answer will not be simply "полночь"/"полдень".
However as a statement, "It's noon here now", "У нас - полдень" is quite normal.
That is, I am sure, someone somewhere will use it. It is just that it's not so typical at all.


----------



## Rosett

Natalisha said:


> I don't think we use the words "полдень" and "полночь" in our everyday speech. But I hear them on the radio almost every day, for example "В столице полночь."


Можно сказать 'без четверти или без 5 минут полночь'.


----------



## Natalisha

rosett said:


> Можно сказать 'без четверти или без 5 минут полночь'.


Да, но слышу это только по радио. 
Обычно говорят "без пяти двенадцать".


----------



## morzh

Rosett said:


> Можно сказать 'без четверти или без 5 минут полночь'.



Сказать можно что угодно.

Но есть - стиль дикторов на радио, стиль сказок, стиль(стили)  поэтический(-ие), стиль литературный, стиль разговорный, стиль  сниженно-разговорный, стиль разговорный "литературный" и прочие.

Вот в разговорных стилях, даже в литературном, так обычно не говорят. А дикторы - говорят.

Что это значит? Это значит, что, сказавши это, Вы будете прекрасно поняты, и о Вас даже не подумают, что Вы - иностранка. Ибо это будет вполне по-русски. Но звучать будет странно, потому что это "out of place". Это, как если бы, подавая дома к обычному обеду обычный борщ в обычной тарелке, сказать "Кушать подано". Или, в "элитном" ресторане половой, подавая консоме с пашотом и фуа-гра, сказал бы "НУ, чаво, садитесь, что ли, жрать, господин хороший".


----------

