Во сколько начинается концерт?

What time does the concert start?

Breakdown of Во сколько начинается концерт?

• концерт: the concert
• начинаться: to start
• во сколько: what time

Questions & Answers about Во сколько начинается концерт?

What does во сколько literally mean, and how is it different from когда?

Во сколько literally means at how many (o’clock) and is used for asking about the exact clock time.

• Во сколько начинается концерт? – At what time does the concert start?

Когда just means when, without specifying that you want a clock time:

• Когда начинается концерт? – When does the concert start? (maybe “this evening”, “tomorrow”, etc., not necessarily “at 7:30”.)

So:

• use во сколько when you expect an answer like в семь, в 19:30, etc.
• use когда for a more general “when”.

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Why is it во and not just в before сколько?

Russian often changes в to во before certain consonant clusters to make pronunciation easier.

Saying в сколько is awkward because you’d have вск- together. Adding о gives a smoother во сколько.

The same thing happens in, for example:

• во Владивостоке instead of в Владивостоке
• во вторник instead of в вторник (many speakers prefer во вторник)

So the rule here is mainly about euphony (ease of pronunciation), not a change of meaning.

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