GrammarTelling the time

How to ask what time it is and read the hours and minutes off a clock. If you also want the words for у́тром / ве́чером and the a.m./p.m. day-parts, see Parts of the day.

Asking the time

• Ско́лько вре́мени? (What time is it? — the everyday version)
• Кото́рый час? (What time is it? — slightly more formal / traditional)

Both mean the same thing; Ско́лько вре́мени? is what you’ll hear most in speech.

Whole hours

The word for “o’clock” is час, and it changes its form after the number, following the normal number + cases rules:

In casual speech the word час / часа́ / часо́в is often dropped: Ско́лько вре́мени? — Уже́ пять. (What time is it? — Already five.)

The traditional way

In the traditional system, once you pass the hour Russian counts minutes into the coming hour, using the genitive of the next ordinal. So 4:30 is literally “half of the fifth”, not “half of four”:

• полови́на пя́того (4:30 — “half of the fifth”), colloquially полпя́того
• че́тверть пя́того (4:15 — “a quarter of the fifth”)
• де́сять мину́т пя́того (4:10 — “ten minutes of the fifth”)

For the second half of the hour, Russian counts down to the coming hour with без (“minus / without”) + the leftover minutes in the genitive + the hour in the nominative:

• без че́тверти пять (4:45 — “a quarter to five”)
• без десяти́ пять (4:50) · без пяти́ пять (4:55)
• без двадцати́ шесть (5:40)

Across one hour, both ways

The traditional forms are elegant but hard. In everyday life, and always for timetables and digital clocks, Russians simply read the hour, then the minutes as plain numbers. Both are correct:

If in doubt, use the digital way, it’s always understood. But you’ll hear the traditional forms often, so it’s worth recognising them.

“At what time?”

Ask with Во ско́лько? (colloquial) or В кото́ром часу́? (formal). To answer, put в (at) before a whole hour:

• в три (часа́) (at three)
• в во́семь (at eight)
• в час (at one)
• в по́лдень (at noon)
• в по́лночь (at midnight)

Two forms behave specially:

• with полови́на, use в + the prepositional: в полови́не пя́того (at 4:30), or just в полпя́того.
• без-phrases take no в at all: Дава́й встре́тимся без че́тверти во́семь. (Let’s meet at a quarter to eight.)

The 24-hour clock

Schedules, TV listings, timetables and official speech use the 24-hour clock, read as plain numbers with no day-part:

• По́езд отправля́ется в 15:40. → в пятна́дцать со́рок (The train leaves at 15:40.)
• Магази́н рабо́тает с 9:00 до 21:00. (The shop is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.)

Common mistakes

• Reading полови́на пя́того as 5:30. It counts into the coming hour, so it’s 4:30.
• Putting в in front of a без-phrase.
  в без че́тверти во́семь (wrong) → без че́тверти во́семь (correct)
• Getting час / часа́ / часо́в wrong. два часа́, but пять часо́в.

Summary

• Ask the time with Ско́лько вре́мени? or Кото́рый час?
• “At what time?” → в + hour (в во́семь), в полови́не пя́того, but без-phrases take no в.
• Whole hours: час, два часа́, пять часо́в.
• Traditionally: Minutes count into the next hour: полови́на пя́того = 4:30; the second half uses без: без че́тверти пять = 4:45.
• Modern/Digital: Read the hour, then the minutes as plain numbers.