Prepositions and Time Expressions in Russian

Talking about time is an important part of daily life. In this video you'll learn how to express four common situations in Russian: how long it takes to get something done; how long something goes on; when something happens after a period of time; and mentioning a period of time that follows an action.
It's not too complicated, but we'll cover a few subtle points where speakers of English might get confused. Here's a hint: what does "in" really mean when we say "I finished the book in an hour"? or "I'll be there in five minutes"? What about "for" when we say "I was there for a week" and "I'm going to Russia for the summer"?
If you find these videos helpful, please consider supporting the channel by buying me a coffee. Спасибо!
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[@harrodesu]

As a native speaker, it's interesting to learn out these nuances cause i never thought about them

[@ahmedabdulhamid5656]

You are the best

[@W4rH3aR7]

This video was really useful! thank you very much and keep it up!!

[@ghen3x]

I always confused these use cases without really realizing the difference, so thanks for this very clear explanation!

[@setharnold9764]

It's amazing how much you fit in five minutes! Thanks for putting all these contrasting elements in one video. Just a few days ago I was wondering how to say these exact things :)

[@ThatFilipinoGuitar]

Отличное!!!! Большое спасибо!!! Это очень ясная!!! Благодарю вас!!!

[@87amd1]

I've always found it particularly hard to correctly translate "for" into Russian in various situations, as it can be на, за, для... or none of these! This video certainly helps with that, so thank you!

[@jeffm9227]

Another great summary!

[@ArtWade]

You're a phenomenal teacher and have a unique ability to break down difficult subjects into easy-to-understand, bite-sized segments (byte-sized for today's technology? 😅) This is the best explanation I've seen and I completely understand it now. I don't know if my attention span has reduced over the years, but I really do much better with the shorter videos. Anyway, I appreciate you and the time and effort you put into bringing us such great lessons.

[@russiangrammar]

Research by Cynthia Brame states that an optimal length for video lessons is around 6 minutes, so I try to stick to that. Thanks so much for your kind comment! :)

[@ArtWade]

@@russiangrammar And speak on a 5th grade level. You've covered all the bases for me 🤣

[@jesussanchezherrero5659]

In Spanish and German there's not a preposition for this case either: - Dormí (-) tres horas anoche (We may add "durante" here, though) - Ich habe letzte Nacht (-) drei Stunden lang geschlafen. But in French and English, there is one: - J'ai dormi PENDANT trois heures la nuit dernière - I've slept FOR three hours yesterday night Очень интересно видео. Спасибо

[@tavo9209]

Greetings from Mexico

[@paganinyyo]

Супер очень полезно. Сейчас я больше внимательно буду использовать эти предлоги времени. Спасибо 🙏 .

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо, Карлос! (Лучше: 'более внимательно'. 'Больше' употребляем когда говорим о количестве: больше времени, больше денег, больше стресса...) :)

[@samerabd8775]

Thanks Your videos are truly useful

[@monomash4852]

Воу, удачи

[@iblackfeathers]

concise 👍

[@kirohero6412]

keep on !!

[@CrazyDreamer1001]

This would have been easier if I had never learned English! (For some reason I think in English while learning Russian instead of in my native language.)

[@russiangrammar]

А какой у вас родной язык?

[@CrazyDreamer1001]

@@russiangrammar Шведский! It's a Germanic language so in general vocabulary and grammar is much closer to English than to Russian. But quite often I also notice similarites between Swedish and Russian when English is different.

[@akscjdid1793]

Hello, first of all thank you for your work you cant imagine how important that is. Do you have list of vocabulary that you feel is necessary ? Keep up the good work

[@russiangrammar]

I don't have a specific list, partly because I'm skeptical that working from a list is the best way to go about it. Instead I'd recommend a good book that presents vocabulary in context; when you have a reasonable basis (like an intermediate book would give), you could go on to learn words corresponding to your specific interests. And: that said, here's a page with Russian words listed by frequency: dict.ruslang.ru/freq.php?act=show&dic=freq_freq&title=%D7%E0%F1%F2%EE%F2%ED%FB%E9%20%F1%EF%E8%F1%EE%EA%20%EB%E5%EC%EC

[@dmp7252]

Hi, this is a great explanation. I have a quick question about using / or not using "на" in the past tense. (I always like trying out concepts in several tenses to see if I really have a handle on the concept.) So, can I say: "Когда я был маленький мы ездили в Москву НА лето." Is that okay?

[@russiangrammar]

Yes, that works: Когда я был маленьким, мы ездили в Москву на лето (we normally use the instrumental after the past & future forms of быть). Similar examples: меня отправляли на дачу... мы всегда уезжали на лето... etc.

[@dmp7252]

@@russiangrammar Thanks so much!!!!!

[@jeffm9227]

So, how do you turn some of these into questions? For example, "For how long will you be leaving?"

[@russiangrammar]

You can start with the preposition: На сколько она уехала? = For how long did she leave? Ты здесь на сколько? How long are you here for? За сколько времени их можно построить? How long does it take to build them?

[@jeffm9227]

@@russiangrammar Awesome! Thanks.

[@jeffm9227]

@@russiangrammar In the case where there is no preposition (Мы ехали всю ночь.), do we need question structure such as *Как долго* вы ехали? or is there batter way to phrase?

[@russiangrammar]

Как долго is fine; some examples: Цвет зависит от того, как долго растение было на свету. = The color depends on how long the plant was in the light. Как долго они здесь живут? = How long have they been living here? Как долго я вас ждал… = I've waited for you for so long... Some might say сколько времени if a number is expected in the answer; I've heard others say there's little difference between как долго and сколько времени (though сколько времени? can be used to ask the time, как долго isn't used that way).

[@yashveer3111]

Фильм начинается в 3 часа Which case is here

[@russiangrammar]

Часа́ has a special ending used after numbers that end with the forms два/две, три, and четыре. In most nouns it's just like the genitive singular, though for a few nouns the stress is different: so we say два часа́, три часа́, четыре часа́, but около ча́са, до этого ча́са (stress on the first syllable, with genitive case endings). Most often there's no difference: два го́рода, до го́рода.

[@yashveer3111]

@@russiangrammar I am glad to see that you replied. I am doing my Russian language certificate course in India and my exams are in dec , so I need a little bit of help. I have another question ,when do we use о, об,обо What is the difference between these three prepositions?

[@russiangrammar]

There's not a difference in meaning; it's more like the difference between "a" and "an" in English (a book, an apple). When using the prepositional case (for the sense of 'about'), we use о before consonant sounds: о книге, о маме, о воде, о яблоках (note that яблоках begins with a consonant *sound*, like the 'y' in 'yard,' or 'j' in German 'ja'). Об is used with words beginning with a vowel sound: об этом, об Англии, об Индии). Обо is used before certain consonant clusters: most important to remember are обо мне, обо всём, обо всей, обо всех. Also, you can hear об in certain expressions: рука о́б руку 'hand in hand.'

[@russiangrammar]

This preposition can also be used with the accusative for the sense of 'against, coming into contact with,' and then you can hear either о or об with words beginning with consonants: Он стукнулся головой об пол. = He hit his head on the floor. В глазах его потемнело, и он еще помнил, как грохнулся о пол. = His eyes went dim, and he could still remember crashing to the floor. But only об before a vowel sound: Я об этот вопрос всю голову сломал. = I've been racking my brain on that question.

[@sapientiayu5597]

За > СВ Without preposition > НСВ Через > both could be used На ❓ Both СВ and НСВ are acceptable? Just a month ago, the first few examples I saw: Я взял книги на месяц. Мы поехали в Германию на два года. So I thought this construction would always use СВ. I feel overwhelmed now.

[@russiangrammar]

The choice of СВ/НСВ (aspect) depends on the context rather than a particular preposition. So we use НСВ (imperfective) in the examples with no preposition because they're expressing duration, a natural context for imperfectives. With на, either can be used because this context can occur with a single action, or a repeated action: Я всегда беру (НСВ) машину на неделю. = I always rent a car for a week (repeated action, so imperfective). В этот раз я взял (СВ) машину на 3 дня. = This time I rented a car for 3 days (one time, completed, so perfective). Cпасибо за вопрос! ))

[@sapientiayu5597]

Russian grammar Thank you for clearing up my misunderstanding. Also for your detailed response to the previous question about Что нового. Спасибо вам большое. надеюсь, у вас в Америке все хорошо.

[@highpriority4015]

Guess who are studying here...The Russians 😄😄😄

[@russiangrammar]

...and sometimes I watch Marina Ozerova's channel on English! Always interesting to see your own language from someone else's perspective. kzbin.info/door/r17D32BVNYQQe_d6LtuocAabout

[@highpriority4015]

@@russiangrammar good for you

[@tavo9209]

First