Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "hour" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

час

Meaning: hour, o'clock, time

Pronunciation: [chahs]

Part of speech: noun (masculine noun)

Rank: #147 (see frequency list)

One-hour time span is marked on the clock.

Example sentences:

Кото́рый час?
What time is it?
literal Which hour?
Я ждал тебя́ два часа́.
I was waiting for you for two hours. (informal)
В росси́йских шко́лах академи́ческий час дли́тся 45 мину́т.
In Russian schools, a school period is 45 minutes long.
Мы усну́ли в час но́чи.
We fell asleep at one o'clock in the morning.
literal We fell asleep at [one] hour of night.
Андре́й бу́дет до́ма че́рез час.
Andrey will be home in an hour.
По́езд прибыва́ет в во́семь часо́в.
The train arrives at eight o'clock.
Авто́бус при́был в Москву́ в шесть часо́в утра́.
The bus arrived to Moscow at six o'clock in the morning.
Авто́бус при́был в Москву́ в шесто́м часу́ утра́.
The bus arrived to Moscow somewhere between five and six in the morning.
literal The bus arrived to Moscow in the sixth hour of the morning.
В су́тках два́дцать четы́ре часа́.
There are twenty-four hours in a day.
В кото́ром часу́?
At what time?
literal In which hour?

Idioms and set expressions:

академический час = school period
literal academic hour
через час = in an hour
час расплаты = day of reckoning
literal hour of reckoning
калиф на час = king for a day
тихий час = quiet time
час-другой = for an hour or two
скоротать час = to divert an idle hour
звёздный час = hour of triumph
literal star hour
солнечные часы = sundial
битый час = for a solid hour, for a good hour (disapproving)
literal beaten hour
на час = for an hour
час пик = rush hour
В кото́ром часу́? = At what time?
literal In which hour?
в [ordinal number] часу́ = during one hour before [ordinal number]
в пя́том часу́ = between 4 and 5; before five; after four
literal in fifth hour

Related words:

часы = watch, clock
часок = an hour (diminutive)

Proverbs and sayings:

Век долог, да час короток.
Life is long, the hour is short.
Из минут час складывается.
Minutes make hours.
Делу время, потехе час.
There's a time for work and a time for play.
literal Time for business, an hour for fun.
Час от часу не легче!
One bad thing on the top of another.
Час победы близок.
Victory is in sight.
В час по чайной ложке.
At a snail's pace.
literal One teaspoonful per hour.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	час	часы́
Genitive	ча́са (ча́су)	часо́в
Dative	ча́су	часа́м
Accusative	ча́с	часы́
Instrumental	ча́сом	часа́ми
Prepositional	о ча́се	о часа́х
Locative	в часу́	—

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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