Questions & Answers about Нам пора бы договориться о времени встречи.
Why is нам in the dative case?
Because пора is used with the person who is affected in the dative.
So:
- мне пора = it’s time for me
- тебе пора = it’s time for you
- нам пора = it’s time for us
In this sentence, нам does not mean us as a direct object. It means for us in the sense of it’s time for us.
A very literal breakdown is:
- нам = to/for us
- пора = it is time
So Нам пора... = It’s time for us...
What exactly does пора mean here?
Пора means it’s time, it’s about time, or the time has come.
It is a very common Russian word used in expressions like:
- Мне пора идти. = I have to go / It’s time for me to go.
- Нам пора начинать. = It’s time for us to start.
In your sentence, пора introduces the idea that the action should now happen:
- Нам пора бы договориться... = It’s about time we agreed...
So пора is not a verb in the usual sense like to be or to go. It functions more like a fixed predicative word meaning time to.