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“Typical ways to describe time in Russian include phrases such as ‘I woke up at 7 in the morning’ or ‘I will stop by at 2 in the afternoon’ or ‘Someone was maki

“Typical ways to describe time in Russian include phrases such as ‘I woke up at 7 in the morning’ or ‘I will stop by at 2 in the afternoon’ or ‘Someone was making a lot of noise at 11 at night,”’ Mr. Chaykin said. All of these I use myself (in California). Are there languages/cultures where this isn't the case? In addition, I'll add "6 in the evening" (early night) and "woke up at dawn" (early morning). If thinking of the day in more than 2 parts epitomizes being Russian, then most of my fellow Californians (and likely my fellow Americans), are going to be very confused.

wglb 14y ago
Ham Radio culture uses 24-hour time; military also. And if you look at my smartphone you will see that as well.
yco 14y ago
The difference is that in Russian the division into 4 parts is more formal. In the same sense as in English the 24 hours are divided into am / pm, in Russian it's divided to morning/afternoon/evening/night. The formal name for 2 a.m. in English is "2 in the morning". But you just can't say "2 in the morning" in Russian - this wouldn't make any sense. You can only say "2 in the night".
- pavel_lishin 14y ago
  Hm, off the tip of my tongue I'd say "два утра", but I haven't spoken Russian full time in over a decade now :/
martinced 14y ago
"Are there languages/cultures where this isn't the case?" Well when it's not obvious in french you'd typically add "du matin" or "ce matin" to mean it was in the morning. But if you meet someone at 5pm you typically would just say : "Je me suis reveille a 8 heures". No need to say "8 heures du matin" or "8 heures ce matin" because it's pretty darn obvious. However you can add "du matin" / "ce matin" : it's certainly not a fault and many people do it. Now regarding the afternoon, you have the choice in french : either you use 12 or 24 hours. For 12 hours, it's the same as for the morning : 4 pm can be "4 heures de l'apres-midi" or "16 heures". 8 pm can be "8 heures du soir" or "20 heures". I typically use the 24 hours system because there's no ambiguity. Now I don't know the official rules and it's certainly often contextual. If someone asks you what time it is in a bar at night, it's pretty obvious when you answer "11 heures" that it's 11 pm but "23 heures" is good too. Same if you answer "2 heures", you then obviously mean 2 am, no need to say "2 heures du matin".

wglb 14y ago

Ham Radio culture uses 24-hour time; military also. And if you look at my smartphone you will see that as well.

yco 14y ago

The difference is that in Russian the division into 4 parts is more formal. In the same sense as in English the 24 hours are divided into am / pm, in Russian it's divided to morning/afternoon/evening/night. The formal name for 2 a.m. in English is "2 in the morning". But you just can't say "2 in the morning" in Russian - this wouldn't make any sense. You can only say "2 in the night".

pavel_lishin 14y ago
Hm, off the tip of my tongue I'd say "два утра", but I haven't spoken Russian full time in over a decade now :/

martinced 14y ago

"Are there languages/cultures where this isn't the case?" Well when it's not obvious in french you'd typically add "du matin" or "ce matin" to mean it was in the morning. But if you meet someone at 5pm you typically would just say : "Je me suis reveille a 8 heures". No need to say "8 heures du matin" or "8 heures ce matin" because it's pretty darn obvious. However you can add "du matin" / "ce matin" : it's certainly not a fault and many people do it. Now regarding the afternoon, you have the choice in french : either you use 12 or 24 hours. For 12 hours, it's the same as for the morning : 4 pm can be "4 heures de l'apres-midi" or "16 heures". 8 pm can be "8 heures du soir" or "20 heures". I typically use the 24 hours system because there's no ambiguity. Now I don't know the official rules and it's certainly often contextual. If someone asks you what time it is in a bar at night, it's pretty obvious when you answer "11 heures" that it's 11 pm but "23 heures" is good too. Same if you answer "2 heures", you then obviously mean 2 am, no need to say "2 heures du matin".