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Let us now examine how temporal relations are expressed by means of prepositions.
Events that take place or took place within a calendar period (an hour, day, week, month, year, or century) or at a specific point in time are marked by the preposition v. The preposition na is not used in this meaning.
Examples:
He will come at one o'clock.
On (budjet) pridti v čas-odin.
He will come at two o'clock.
On (budjet) pridti v dva-čas.
He will come next Wednesday.
On (budjet) pridti v sledujušij djenj-merkur.
He will come this Monday.
On (budjet) pridti v eto djenj-luna.
He will arrive this week.
On (budjet) prijehatj v eto nedelja.
He will arrive in May.
On (budjet) prijehatj v maj.
He will arrive this month.
On (budjet) prijehatj v eto mesjac.
He will arrive next year.
On (budjet) prijehatj v sledujušij god.
He will arrive in the year 2025.
On (budjet) prijehatj v god dva tǐsjači dvadcatj pjatj.
(As mentioned earlier, the auxiliary budjet may be omitted whenever the time reference already indicates that the event belongs to the future.)
Further examples:
It happened during the age of feudalism.
Eto bǐl v epoha na feodalizm.
It happened in a difficult year.
Eto bǐl v trudnǐj god.
It happened in the year when the war ended.
Eto bǐl v god, kogda vojna končilsja.
It happened in the century of space exploration.
Eto bǐl v vek, kogda Kosmos osvaivalsja.
He was born in 1995.
On rodilsja v god tǐsjača djevjatj-sti djevjatj-djesjati pjatj.
He was born this year.
On rodilsja v eto god.
He was born in the twentieth century.
On rodilsja v vek dvadcati.
LPQR offers several ways to translate the English expressions ago and in (referring to future time).
Examples:
I came an hour ago.
Ja prišol za čas do teperj.
Ja prišol za čas do.
I will leave in an hour.
Ja ujti čerez čas posle teperj.
Ja ujti čerez čas posle.
Ja ujti čerez čas.
As these examples demonstrate, both the full expressions (za čas do teperj, čerez čas posle teperj) and their shortened forms (za čas do, čerez čas posle, čerez čas) are acceptable.
Let us now consider how LPQR expresses time intervals and their boundaries.
As in modern Russian, when only the duration of an interval is meant, a temporal noun or numeral phrase is normally used without a preposition.
Examples:
Mǐ zanimalsja dva časǐ.
Oni rabotal pjatj djeni.
There are several exceptions to this rule, which will be discussed later.
The starting point and ending point of a time interval are expressed by the prepositions ot ("from") and do ("until"). The use of s and po for this purpose is discouraged.
Examples:
We studied from eight until ten.
Mǐ zanimalsja ot vosemj-čas do desjatica.
We will stay in the capital from July 1 until August 27.
Mǐ budet v stolica ot ijuli-odin do august-dvadcatj-semj.
The Russian preposition накануне is best translated either as za denj do ("one day before") or pered ("before").
Examples:
On the eve of the holiday the children decorate the Christmas tree.
Za denj do prazdnik deti ukrašat jolka.
They met on the eve of the departure.
Oni uvidelsja pered otjezd.
Expressions such as
during breakfast,
during lunch,
during dinner
should be translated with the preposition v:
v zavtrak
v obed
v užin
The use of za in these expressions is not recommended.
As in Russian, the preposition pri is used when the time of an event is determined by the life or activity of a particular person.
Example:
Saint Petersburg was built during the reign of Peter the Great.
Pri Petr Pervǐj bǐl postrojen Sankt-Peterburg.
The preposition pri is also used to indicate the conditions under which an action takes place.
Example:
They worked in daylight.
Oni rabotal pri svet u denj.
To express regularly repeated actions occurring on particular weekdays or at particular times of day, LPQR also uses the preposition v, followed by a noun in the plural.
Examples:
v djeni-saturn — on Saturdays
v djeni-luna — on Mondays
v djeni-sol — on Sundays
v utrǐ — in the mornings
v večjerǐ — in the evenings
v noči — at night
The use of po in these expressions is discouraged.
Examples:
We study music on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Mǐ zanimatsja na muzika v djeni-merkur i djeni-venus.
We watch television in the evenings.
Mǐ smotret TV v večjerǐ.
Returning to the expression of duration, LPQR follows the same principle as Russian.
When a temporal expression denotes the duration of an action and accompanies an imperfective verb, no preposition is used.
Celǐj mesjac ja otdǐhal.
When the same duration accompanies a perfective verb, it is preceded by the preposition za.
Za etot mesjac ja horošo otdǐhnul.
If the duration refers to a planned future stay or intended activity, the preposition na is used.
Ja prijehal otdǐhatj na mesjac.
It should be emphasized that these rules concern the duration of an interval itself.
When speaking about events occurring within that interval, LPQR almost always uses the preposition v.
The preposition na is also used before expressions denoting not only a time interval but also a specific point in time for which an event, action, or completion is planned.
Russian often uses the preposition к in these situations.
Examples:
Come by three o'clock.
Vǐ prihoditj na tri-čas.
Finish the work by the end of the year.
Sdelatj rabota na konec u god.
He arrived for the holiday.
On prijehal na prazdnik.
Although the preposition k is permitted in LPQR, its use is not recommended.
The preposition na indicates a kind of direction toward a planned point or period in time.
For example:
The meeting has been scheduled for September 20.
Vstreča naznačen na september-20.
The meeting is merely planned; it may or may not actually take place.
If the occurrence of an event is regarded as certain, the preposition v should be used instead.
The noun čas ("hour") has singular and plural forms when referring to time intervals.
However, when referring to clock time, only the singular form is used:
odin-čas
dva-čas
dvenadcatj-čas
Temporal relations may also be expressed by the words plus and minus.
Examples:
The clock is five minutes fast.
Časǐ spešit, plus pjatj minutǐ.
He was one minute late.
On opozdal, plus odin minuta.
The new residents received the keys to their apartments two quarters earlier.
Novǐj žilcǐ polučil ključi v svoj kvartirǐ ranjše, minus dva kvartalǐ.