Breakdown of Собрание начинается через десять минут, поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас.
Questions & Answers about Собрание начинается через десять минут, поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас.
Собрание is the grammatical subject of the sentence, so it’s in the nominative case: Собрание начинается…
The noun собрание is neuter because it ends in -е / -ие (a common neuter pattern in Russian). That’s why the verb is начинается (3rd person singular) with no gender marking in the present tense.
Начинается is the present-tense form of начинаться (imperfective).
The -ся makes it a “self-happening” / passive-like construction: the meeting is starting / begins (i.e., it starts by itself, not “someone starts it”). Compare:
- Он начинает собрание = He starts the meeting (active, someone is doing it).
- Собрание начинается = The meeting begins (focus on the event starting).
Russian often uses the present tense of an imperfective verb to talk about scheduled or imminent future events, especially with a time expression:
Собрание начинается через десять минут = The meeting starts in ten minutes.
You can also see начнётся (perfective future) in similar contexts; it can sound a bit more like a single definite start.
Через means in (after) when talking about time: через десять минут = in ten minutes.
Grammatically, через governs the accusative. With numeral phrases (especially 5+), the internal form looks like genitive plural, so you get:
- через одну минуту (accusative singular)
- через две / три / четыре минуты
- через пять / десять минут (here минут is the form used after 5+)
After numerals 5 and above, Russian uses the genitive plural form of the noun:
- 1 → минута
- 2–4 → минуты
- 5+ → минут
So десять минут is the standard counting form, and with через the whole phrase functions as the object of the preposition.
Поэтому means therefore / so, introducing a result.
In Russian, when поэтому connects two clauses with a cause → result relationship, you normally separate them with a comma:
Собрание начинается…, поэтому…
Yes, but the meaning and structure change:
- поэтому = therefore/so (result)
- так что = so that / so (result; often a bit more conversational)
- потому что = because (cause; it introduces the reason instead)
So you’d get: - Result: …, поэтому мне нужно выйти сейчас.
- Cause: Мне нужно выйти сейчас, потому что собрание начинается через десять минут.
Мне нужно + infinitive is an impersonal construction meaning I need to… / It’s necessary for me to…
- мне is dative (literally to me)
- нужно is a predicative word meaning necessary
It often sounds more neutral/less forceful than я должен (I must / I’m obliged to), which can imply obligation, duty, or strong necessity.
In the structure мне нужно + infinitive, the person who “has the need” is expressed in the dative:
- мне нужно = I need (literally: it is necessary to me)
Other examples: тебе нужно, ему нужно, нам нужно, etc.
Выйти is perfective and focuses on a single completed action: to leave (and be out)—one specific departure.
Выходить is imperfective and would emphasize the process/habit or repeated leaving. In this context (one immediate departure), выйти is the natural choice.
Both can mean to leave, but they highlight different nuances:
- выйти = to go out (often from indoors to outdoors, or out of a room/building)
- уйти = to go away/leave (focus on departure from a place, less about “going outside”)
If you mean leaving a building/room right now, выйти fits especially well.
Russian word order is flexible, and the end position often gives emphasis. …выйти сейчас stresses now as the key point.
Other natural options include:
- …поэтому сейчас мне нужно выйти. (emphasizes now)
- …поэтому мне сейчас нужно выйти. (also emphasizes now, slightly conversational)
All are understandable; the original is neutral and clear.