Learn Hardcore Russian: Мне осталось чуть-чуть времени до встречи. - I have just a little bit of time left before the meeting.

Russian uses the dative to mark the experiencer/possessor in impersonal “have/left” statements. Мне осталось... literally means “to me remained...”. Same pattern as мне холодно, мне 20 лет.

Can I say У меня осталось... instead of Мне осталось...?

Yes. У меня осталось чуть-чуть времени до встречи is very natural and perhaps more straightforwardly possessive. Мне осталось... is also correct and common, especially in impersonal constructions (and with infinitives: мне осталось позвонить).

Why is осталось in neuter past? Shouldn’t it be present?

This is a common impersonal perfective: the neuter past expresses a present result (“there remains/has remained”). You can use the present imperfective too: остаётся. Nuance: осталось = result (“left now”), остаётся = ongoing process.

So can I say Мне остаётся чуть-чуть времени до встречи?

Yes, it’s correct. It sounds a bit more like “there is (only) a little time remaining” as a current process. In everyday speech осталось is very idiomatic here.

Why is времени in the genitive?

Because чуть-чуть (“a little bit”) governs the genitive. With mass nouns use genitive singular (чуть-чуть времени, воды); with countables, genitive plural (чуть-чуть яблок).

What case is до встречи and why?

Genitive. The preposition до (“until, up to”) always takes the genitive: до встречи, до обеда, до понедельника.

Is до встречи here the same as the farewell “See you”?

No. As a farewell it’s a standalone expression. Here it’s simply “until the meeting” (a prepositional phrase governed by до).

Can I omit времени and say Мне осталось чуть-чуть до встречи?

Colloquially yes. It’s understood as “a little [time] left until the meeting,” just less explicit and more conversational.

What word orders are natural?

All of these work, with small emphasis shifts:

Мне осталось чуть-чуть времени до встречи. (neutral)
Осталось чуть-чуть времени до встречи. (general “there’s a bit of time left”)
Мне осталось до встречи чуть-чуть времени.
До встречи мне осталось чуть-чуть времени.

Why not plural agreement (остались)? Does the verb agree with the amount?

With quantities/amounts, the default is impersonal neuter: осталось пять минут / чуть-чуть времени. Plural (остались два дня) also occurs in speech, but neuter is standard—and with чуть-чуть you use neuter (осталось).

Is чуть-чуть formal? Any synonyms?

It’s neutral–colloquial. Synonyms: немного, совсем немного, very colloquial капельку, or short чуть.

Where are the stresses?

Мне (one syllable)
остАлось
чуть-чуть (both parts stressed)
врЕмени
встрЕчи

Can I use иметь to say this?

Normally no in everyday speech. Я имею чуть-чуть времени... sounds bookish/foreign. Prefer У меня есть немного времени... or Мне (У меня) осталось немного времени....

Can I use есть instead of осталось?

Yes, but it changes the meaning. У меня есть немного времени до встречи = “I have some time (available).” Мне/У меня осталось... = “I have only this much left (remaining).”

Can осталось take an infinitive too?

Yes: Мне осталось позвонить (“I still have to call / The only thing left is to call”). With a noun it’s a remaining quantity; with an infinitive it’s a remaining action.

Could I use перед встречей instead of до встречи?

Generally no with this “X left until Y” pattern; до is the norm. Перед встречей describes a time frame “before the meeting” in general: У меня есть дела перед встречей.

What’s a literal gloss to help me map the structure?

“To me remained a little bit of time until [the] meeting.” Russian often expresses possession/availability with dative + impersonal verb.