Сегодня первая пара по истории начинается в восемь часов.

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Breakdown of Сегодня первая пара по истории начинается в восемь часов.

• в: at
• по: on
• начинаться: to start

Questions & Answers about Сегодня первая пара по истории начинается в восемь часов.

What does пара mean here? Does it literally mean pair?

In this sentence, пара does not mean a literal pair of objects. In school and university contexts, пара is a common word for one class block, especially at a university. Traditionally, it means a double period: two standard lesson units treated as one block.

So первая пара means the first class period / the first class block, not the first pair in the everyday English sense.

In some contexts, a learner might also hear урок for lesson, but пара is especially common in higher education schedules.

Why is it первая пара and not первый пара?

Because пара is a feminine noun in Russian.

Adjectives and ordinal numbers must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since пара is feminine singular, first becomes первая.

So:

• первый = masculine
• первая = feminine
• первое = neuter

Here:

• первая пара = the first class

Why is it по истории? What case is ?