Learn Hardcore Russian: Мне пора бы ложиться спать раньше, иначе утром не будет сил на тренировку. - I should probably go to bed earlier, otherwise in the morning I will have no strength for training.

Word

Мне пора бы ложиться спать раньше, иначе утром не будет сил на тренировку.

Meaning

I should probably go to bed earlier, otherwise in the morning I will have no strength for training.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Breakdown of Мне пора бы ложиться спать раньше, иначе утром не будет сил на тренировку.

Why does the sentence start with мне, and why is it Мне пора instead of something like Я должен?

Мне пора is a very common Russian way to say it’s time for me or I should be going / I ought to.

So Мне пора ложиться спать literally means something like To me, it is time to go to sleep.

This is different from Я должен..., which means I must / I am obligated to... and sounds more like duty or obligation.

Compare:

In this sentence, Мне пора sounds more natural and personal: the speaker feels that it’s time they started doing this.

What does бы mean in Мне пора бы?

Here бы softens the statement and adds a sense like:

So:

Мне пора ложиться спать раньше = It’s time for me to go to bed earlier.
Мне пора бы ложиться спать раньше = I really should start going to bed earlier / I ought to be going to bed earlier.

This use of бы often suggests: