Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "minute" 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.

минута

Meaning: minute, moment

Pronunciation: [mee-NOO-tah]

Part of speech: noun (feminine noun)

Rank: #199 (see frequency list)

One-minute time span is marked on the clock.

Example sentences:

В одно́й мину́те шестьдеся́т секу́нд.
There are sixty seconds in one minute.
Сейча́с де́сять мину́т второ́го.
It's ten minutes past one.
literal Now ten minutes of the second hour.
Пожа́луйста, подожди́те мину́ту.
Wait a minute, please. / One moment, please. (polite)
В одно́м ча́се шестьдеся́т мину́т.
There are sixty minutes in one hour.
На мину́ту все замолча́ли. (А. Чехов)
Everyone was silent for a space. (A. Chekhov)
Го́сти бу́дут с мину́ты на мину́ту.
The guests will arrive any minute.
О чём вы ду́маете в да́нную мину́ту?
What are you thinking about right now? (formal or plural)
Моско́вское вре́мя ноль часо́в, ноль мину́т.
Moscow time is 00:00. (12:00 a.m. start of day)
literal Moscow time zero hours, zero minutes.
Он бу́дет че́рез де́сять мину́т.
He'll be here in ten minutes.
Прошло́ пять мину́т.
Five minutes have passed.
Одну́ мину́ту!
One moment, please!
literal [Wait] one minute!
С ка́ждой мину́той в ко́мнате станови́лось всё бо́льше люде́й.
Every minute the room was getting filled with more and more people.
В да́нную мину́ту я не гото́в.
I'm not ready at the moment. (said by a male)

Idioms and set expressions:

с минуты на минуту = any minute
literal from minute to minute
Мину́ту внима́ния! = Attention, please!
literal A minute of attention!
в данную минуту = at the moment; right now
literal in given minute
минута в минуту = on the dot; exactly
literal minute into minute
в одну минуту = in no time
literal in one minute
Я не спал ни минуты. = I haven’t slept a wink.
literal I haven't slept a minute.
Одну минуту! = One moment!; Just a minute!
минуты убегают = the minutes are ticking by
literal the minutes are running away
в трудную минуту = in an hour of need; in state of emergency; in hot water
literal in a tough minute

Related words:

минутка = a minute, moment (diminutive)

Proverbs and sayings:

Из минут час складывается.
Minutes make hours.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	мину́та	мину́ты
Genitive	мину́ты	мину́т
Dative	мину́те	мину́там
Accusative	мину́ту	мину́ты
Instrumental	мину́той	мину́тами
Prepositional	мину́те	мину́тах

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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