Telling the time in Russian: Который час? Сколько времени?

— Который час? — Сейчас половина третьего. Урок начинается в три часа, а заканчивается без десяти пять.— What time is it? — It is half past two. The lesson starts at three o'clock and ends at ten to five.

Telling the time in Russian uses numbers you already know, so most of the work is a few fixed patterns. There are two styles: the everyday one used in conversation (десять минут пятого) and the digital one used for timetables and announcements (четыре часа десять минут). The numbers are in Cardinal numbers 1–20 and Cardinal numbers 20–1000; the endings after numbers are explained in Numerals with nouns.

In short: ask Который час? or Сколько времени?, say Сейчас пять часов for the full hour, and for "at" a time use в + accusative (в пять часов). In conversation, minutes up to half past are counted towards the next hour in the genitive (десять минут пятого, "ten minutes of the fifth"), and after half past you say без + the minutes (без десяти пять, "ten to five").

Asking for the time

Two questions are common and mean the same:

• Который час? (What time is it?)
• Сколько времени? (What time is it? Literally, "How much time?")

To ask when something happens, use Во сколько? (At what time?) or Когда? (When?):

• Во сколько начинается урок? (What time does the lesson start?)
• Когда ты приходишь домой? (When do you come home?)

The full hour: час, часа, часов

The word for "hour" changes after the number, as it does with any noun after a numeral:

For one o'clock the number is usually left out: час, not один час. Twelve o'clock has its own words as well: полдень (noon) and полночь (midnight), though двенадцать часов is also heard.

Saying "at" a time: в + accusative

To say that something happens at a certain time, use в with the accusative. For the full hour the numeral and час keep the same form as above:

• Урок начинается в три часа. (The lesson starts at three o'clock.)
• Я встаю в семь часов. (I get up at seven o'clock.)
• Мы обедаем в час. (We have lunch at one o'clock.)

Both the question and the answer are easy to match: Во сколько…? → В пять часов.

Minutes up to half past

In everyday speech, the minutes are counted towards the next hour: 10:05 is "five minutes of the sixth hour". You say the minutes, then минута / минуты / минут, then the genitive of the ordinal for the next hour:

The minutes follow the usual number rules: одна минута, две / три / четыре минуты, and минут for 5–20. The ordinal (первого, второго, третьего, четвёртого, пятого…) is the genitive masculine, because it agrees with the understood word часа. The ordinals themselves are in Ordinal numbers.

Two fixed phrases take the place of the number:

• Четверть (a quarter) for 15 minutes: четверть пятого (4:15).
• Половина (a half) for 30 minutes: половина шестого (5:30).

To say "at" such a time, add в. The minutes phrases stay as they are (в десять минут пятого, at 4:10; в четверть пятого, at 4:15), but половина takes the prepositional: в половине шестого (at 5:30).

After half past: без + genitive

After half past, Russians count how many minutes are missing to the next hour with без ("without") and the genitive of the number. The hour that follows stays in the nominative:

The minutes after без are in the genitive: десяти (10), пяти (5), двадцати (20), двадцати пяти (25), and четверти for a quarter. In sentences: Сейчас без десяти пять. (It is ten to five.) For "at" such a time, без десяти пять is usually said alone: Урок заканчивается без десяти пять.

The digital style

For timetables, announcements and exact times, Russian says the hours and the minutes as cardinal numbers, in order:

• девять часов пятнадцать минут (9:15)
• семнадцать часов тридцать минут (17:30)
• в восемь часов сорок минут (at 8:40)

This is the same order as on the clock, so it needs no counting towards the next hour. The 24-hour clock is common in official contexts (в семнадцать часов), and the 12-hour clock is common in conversation, where the time of day is added.

Morning, day, evening, night

When the 12-hour clock is used, the part of the day is added in the genitive after the time:

The limits are approximate and depend on the speaker (в час дня, в пять часов утра).

Common mistakes

• ❌ Сейчас пять час. → ✅ Сейчас пять часов. (After 5–12 the form is часов)
• ❌ в три час → ✅ в три часа (After 2–4 the form is часа)
• ❌ Сейчас один час. → ✅ Сейчас час. (For one o'clock the number is usually left out)
• ❌ десять минут четыре → ✅ десять минут пятого (For 4:10 the next hour in the genitive: ten minutes of the fifth)
• ❌ без десяти пятого → ✅ без десяти пять (After без the hour is in the nominative: ten to five)
• ❌ в пять часов вечер → ✅ в пять часов вечера (The part of the day is in the genitive)

Quick check

Which form fits each gap?

1. Сейчас ____ часа. (3)
2. Сейчас ____. (1:00)
3. Урок начинается в ____ часов. (8)
4. Сейчас ____ минут шестого. (10)
5. Сейчас без ____ шесть. (5)
6. Мы встаём в семь часов ____. (morning)

Key takeaways

• Ask with Который час? or Сколько времени?; ask about an event with Во сколько?.
• The hour word is час (1), часа (2–4) and часов (5–12); for one o'clock час alone is usual.
• "At" a time is в + accusative: в пять часов.
• In everyday speech, minutes up to half past use the genitive of the next hour (десять минут пятого), with четверть and половина for 15 and 30.
• After half past, без + the genitive of the minutes + the next hour: без десяти пять.
• The digital style simply says the hours and the minutes: девять часов пятнадцать минут.
• With the 12-hour clock add утра, дня, вечера, ночи in the genitive.