When you need to find out the time, ask: Который (сейчас) час?
You'll hear in reply:
Сейчас час. | It's one o'clock. |
Сейчас два часа. | It's two o'clock. |
Сейчас десять часов. | It's ten o'clock. |
When you need to know WHEN? you may use one of the following two
questions: Когда? and В котором часу?
There are two ways of answering these questions:
Когда? This is less specific and may be answered by saying:
Утром. | In the morning (from about 5:00 am to noon) |
Днём. | In the daytime (from noon to about 6:00 pm) |
Вечером. | In the evening (from 6:00 pm to midnight) |
Ночью. | At night (from midnight to about 5:00 am) |
В котором часу? This is more specific and indicates the hour:
В час. | At one o'clock. |
В два/три/четыре (часа). | At two/three/four o'clock. |
В пять/шесть/семь (часов) | At five/six/seven o'clock. |
В восемь /девять /десять (часов) В одиннадцать /двенадцать (часов) | At eight /nine /ten At eleven /twelve o'clock. |
То indicate am add ночи or утра after the hour:
В час ночи. В семь часов утра.
For p_m, add дня or вечера.
В два часа дня. В одиннадцать часов вечера.
То indicate partial hours, Russian uses a very complex system which is gradually being replaced by a simpler one based on the 24-hour clock. Study the following examples:
В час. | At 1:00 am. |
В четыре тридцать. | At 4:30 am. |
В девять сорок пять. | At 9:45 am. |
В тринадцать десять. | At 1:10 pm. (13:10) |
В семнадцать тридцать. | At 5:30 pm. (17:30) |
В двадцать пятнадцать. | At 8:15 pm. (20:15) |
В двадцать три тридцать. | At 11:30 pm. (23:30) |
But you will also hear these:
В половине пятого утра. | At 4:30am. (lit. half five in the morning) |
Без пятнадцати десять утра. | At 9:45am. (lit. 10 less 15 [minutes]) |
В десять минут второго. | At 1:10pm. (lit. 10 minutes of the second hour) |
В половине шестого вечера. | At 5:30pm. (lit. half six in the evening) |