Learn Hardcore Russian: Мы встретимся примерно в десять часов.

Встретимся is the first person plural, future tense, perfective, reflexive form of the verb встретиться (“to meet (each other)”, “to get together”).

Мы встретимся = “We will (successfully) meet / We will get together (once).”
Because it’s perfective, it focuses on the result (the meeting will take place), not on the process or repetition.
The form breaks down as:
- встрет- – verb stem
- -и- – verb suffix
- -м- – “we”
- -ся – reflexive ending

Why is встретимся reflexive? Why not just встретим?

In Russian, many actions that are reciprocal (“each other”) are expressed with reflexive verbs:

Мы встретимся – “We will meet (each other).”
Мы встретим – “We will meet (someone/something).” This must have a direct object:
- Мы встретим гостей. – “We will meet the guests.”
- Я встречу тебя. – “I will meet you.”

So, to talk about two or more people meeting each other, Russian usually uses встретиться / встречаться with -ся:
Мы встретимся, они встретятся, etc.

What is the difference between мы встретимся and мы будем встречаться?

Both are future, but they differ in aspect and meaning:

Мы встретимся примерно в десять часов.
- One specific event in the future.
- Perfective: focuses on the fact that the meeting will happen.
Мы будем встречаться примерно в десять часов.
- “We will be meeting at about ten o’clock” (regularly / repeatedly).
- Imperfective + future auxiliary будем: suggests a repeated / habitual action, like a schedule or routine.

So for one planned meeting, мы встретимся is the natural choice.

Is the pronoun мы necessary here? Can I just say Встретимся примерно в десять часов?

Yes, you can drop мы if the subject is clear from context:

Мы встретимся примерно в десять часов. – fully explicit.
Встретимся примерно в десять часов. – “(We’ll) meet at about ten.”

In Russian, verb endings (-мся = “we”) already show the subject, so pronouns are often omitted unless you:

want to emphasize the subject (именно мы встретимся, “we (as opposed to others) will meet”), or
need to avoid ambiguity.

Why is the approximate word примерно placed before в десять часов? Could it go somewhere else?

The most natural place is where you see it:

Мы встретимся примерно в десять часов.

You can move примерно, but the feel changes slightly:

Мы встретимся в десять часов примерно. – possible, but sounds less natural and a bit “afterthought-like”, like you remembered to add “approximately” at the end.
Примерно мы встретимся в десять часов. – unusual word order; it sounds marked or stylistically odd.

So, for everyday speech and writing, stick with:

примерно + в + time expression
примерно в десять часов

What is the difference between примерно, около, and где-то in time expressions like this?

All three can mean “about / around” with time, but there are nuances:

примерно в десять часов – neutral, slightly more formal / standard; common in both speech and writing.
около десяти часов – also “around ten o’clock”; often slightly bookish or careful, very natural in speech too. You usually say около десяти (часов) without в.
где-то в десять часов – very colloquial, like “around ten-ish” or “somewhere around ten.”

Examples:

Мы встретимся примерно в десять часов.
Мы встретимся около десяти часов.
Мы встретимся где-то в десять часов.

All are acceptable, but примерно в десять часов is nicely neutral.

Why is it в десять часов and not some other case, like в десяти часах?

For clock times (“at X o’clock”), Russian uses:

в
- Accusative (point in time)

So you say:

в один час, в два часа, в три часа, в десять часов, в семь часов.

В десяти часах would be Prepositional and has a different meaning: “in ten hours” (inside a span of ten hours) or “inside ten hours” in some very specific contexts. It’s not used for “at ten o’clock.”

So the correct pattern for time is:

в + numeral + noun in its “counted form” (after that numeral), overall functioning as an Accusative time expression
в десять часов = “at ten o’clock”

Why is it десять часов and not десять часы?

This follows a specific rule for numbers + nouns in Russian.

For the noun час (“hour”):

After 1: один час (Nominative singular)
After 2, 3, 4: два/три/четыре часа (Genitive singular form)
After 5–20: пять часов, шесть часов, десять часов (Genitive plural form часов)

So after десять (10), you must use часов, not часы:

десять часов = “ten hours” / “ten o’clock”

This is just the standard numeral–noun agreement pattern in Russian.

Can I say just в десять, without часов?

Yes, very often in spoken Russian, people shorten time expressions:

Мы встретимся в десять. – “We’ll meet at ten.”

Omitting часов is:

completely natural, especially in informal conversation,
still correct in many written contexts, if the time is clear.

Including часов just sounds a bit more complete or explicit, but both are fine:

в десять часов – fuller form
в десять – everyday shorter form

Could I say к десяти часам instead of в десять часов? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

в десять часов – “at ten o’clock” (point in time)
к десяти часам – “by ten o’clock” (by that time, around or before it, deadline-like)

Examples:

Мы встретимся в десять часов.
→ The meeting is scheduled for 10:00.
Мы встретимся к десяти часам.
→ You should arrive by around 10:00; people might start arriving a bit earlier, but the idea is “no later than ten.”

Grammatically:

в десять часов – Accusative (в + Accusative for time point)
к десяти часам – Dative (к + Dative, often “by (a time)”)

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral in style?

Мы встретимся примерно в десять часов. is neutral in style:

Suitable for spoken Russian with friends, family, colleagues.
Also acceptable in written contexts like messages, emails, notes, etc., as long as the situation isn’t extremely formal or legalistic.

If you wanted it slightly more formal (e.g., business email), you might write:

Давайте встретимся примерно в десять часов.
Предлагаю встретиться примерно в десять часов.

How is this sentence pronounced? Where are the stresses?

Stresses (marked with ´):

Мы встр́етимся прим́ерно в десять часо́в.

Syllable by syllable:

Мы – [мы] (like “mɨ”; short, unstressed)
встр́етимся – vst-RE-tim-sya (stress on встре́-)
прим́ерно – pri-MYER-na (stress on -ме́р-)
в – [v] (often very short, almost attached to the next word)
де́сять – DE-syat (stress on де́)
часо́в – cha-SOF (stress on -со́в)

Natural rhythm groups it like:

Мы встр́етимся / прим́ерно / в де́сять часо́в.