Word
Мне пора идти спать, потому что я устал.
Meaning
It’s time for me to go to sleep because I am tired.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Мне пора идти спать, потому что я устал.
Why does the sentence start with Мне, not Я?
Because мне пора… uses the dative case to express “it’s time for me to…”. Russian often frames states/necessity as something that applies to a person (dative) rather than “I + verb.”
- Мне пора идти спать = “It’s time for me to go to sleep.” Compare:
- Мне холодно = “I’m cold” (literally “to me [it is] cold”)
- Мне нужно идти = “I need to go”
What exactly is пора grammatically?
Пора is a predicative word (a “category of state” word) meaning “it’s time.” It behaves like a predicate and typically pairs with an infinitive:
- Пора идти = “It’s time to go.” It doesn’t conjugate like a normal verb in this meaning.
Can I drop Мне and just say Пора идти спать?
Yes. Пора идти спать is natural and means “It’s time to go to bed / time to sleep.” Adding мне makes it explicitly about you (“for me”), which can sound slightly more personal or contrastive in context.
Why does Russian say идти спать (go sleep) instead of just “sleep”?