Learn Hardcore Russian: Встреча начинается через десять минут, поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас. - The meeting starts in ten minutes, so I need to leave now.

начинаться (imperfective, “to be starting / to start (as a process or scheduled fact)”) → встреча начинается
начаться (perfective, “to start (as a single completed onset)”) → встреча начнётся (future)

начинает without -ся normally needs an object: встреча начинает разговор (“the meeting starts the conversation”), which is a different structure.
Using начинается makes the meeting the thing that “starts” by itself (a common Russian pattern for events).

What’s the difference between начинается and начнётся here?

начинается (imperfective present) is often used for scheduled near-future events, like timetables: “The meeting starts in ten minutes.”
начнётся (perfective future) focuses more on the moment of onset: “The meeting will start (and then it will have started).”

Both can work, but начинается через десять минут sounds very natural for announcements/schedules.

Why does через mean “in (ten minutes)” and what case is used after it?

через + Accusative means “after (a duration), in … (time).”
So через десять минут = “in ten minutes” (ten minutes from now).

через always takes the accusative, but with numbers like десять the form you see is shaped by numeral grammar (see next question).

Why is it десять минут and not десять минуты/минуты?

After numerals:

1 → nominative singular: одна минута
2–4 → genitive singular: две минуты
5–20, 30, 40, 50… → genitive plural: десять минут

So минут is genitive plural, which is required after десять (even though the whole phrase functions as the object of через).

Why is there a comma before поэтому?

поэтому (“therefore/so”) introduces a result clause. In Russian it’s commonly treated like a linking word between two clauses, and a comma is normally used: Встреча начинается через десять минут, поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас.

(Without the comma it looks cramped and is usually considered punctuation-mistake in standard writing.)

What’s the grammar of мне нужно? Why dative мне instead of я?

This is an impersonal necessity construction:

мне = dative (“to me / for me”)
нужно = “it is necessary”
выйти = infinitive (“to leave/go out”)

So literally: “For me, it’s necessary to leave now.”
Russian often expresses obligations this way instead of a direct “I must” structure.

How is мне нужно выйти different from я должен выйти or мне надо выйти?

мне нужно выйти: neutral, common, “I need to leave.”
мне надо выйти: very common in speech; slightly more casual/direct.
я должен выйти: stronger and more formal/moral-sounding (“I am obliged to leave / I have a duty to leave”), and it focuses more on I.

In everyday conversation, мне нужно/надо is usually the go-to.

Why is it выйти (perfective) and not выходить (imperfective)?

Because you mean a single, concrete action: leaving once, right now. That’s typically perfective:

выйти сейчас = “to leave now (once)”
выходить would suggest repeated/habitual action or a process, e.g. Я выхожу в восемь каждый день (“I leave at 8 every day”) or Я выхожу из дома in a descriptive “I’m in the process of leaving” context.

Does выйти mean “leave” or “go out”? Leave from where?

выйти literally means “to go out (exit),” and it often works as “leave” in English when the context is leaving a place:

выйти сейчас implies “leave (the current place) now,” often “leave the house/office now.” If you want to specify, you can add:
выйти из дома (leave the house)
выйти из офиса (leave the office)

What does сейчас imply—right this second, or just “now / at this time”?

сейчас can mean:

“right now / immediately” (common with commands/urgency)
“nowadays / at the moment” in broader contexts

Here, with мне нужно выйти, it strongly implies immediately / without delay.

Can the word order be changed? For example: Поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас…

Yes. Russian word order is flexible and changes emphasis:

Встреча начинается через десять минут, поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас. (neutral flow: fact → consequence)
Поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас: встреча начинается через десять минут. (emphasizes the consequence first; the colon/dash is stylistic)

Within the second clause, сейчас can move too:

…поэтому мне нужно сейчас выйти (slightly more emphasis on “now”)
…поэтому сейчас мне нужно выйти (even stronger “now” emphasis)

Is встреча always “meeting”? Could it be “encounter”?

встреча can mean:

a planned meeting (very common)
an encounter (more context-dependent)

In a time-scheduled sentence like начинается через десять минут, it almost certainly means a planned meeting (appointment, meeting at work, etc.).