Breakdown of Сейчас половина второго, и начинается математика.
и
and
сейчас
now
начинаться
to begin (of an event)
второй
second
Questions & Answers about Сейчас половина второго, и начинается математика.
Why does половина второго mean "half past one" when второго means "second"?
In Russian, you express "half past" by saying you are halfway through the upcoming hour. So, 1:30 is половина (half) of the second hour. Второго is the genitive (possessive) form of второй (second), meaning "of the second".
Why use the reflexive verb начинается (with -ся) instead of just начинает?
We use the reflexive form because the math class is starting on its own (it is an intransitive action). If you used начинает, you would need to specify who is starting the class, such as "The teacher is starting math."
Why is the verb placed before the subject (начинается математика)?
Russian word order is flexible. Putting the verb before the subject is very common when setting a scene or announcing that an event is happening. While математика начинается is also correct, putting the verb first sounds very natural here.
Why is математика in the nominative case if it comes at the end of the sentence?
Even though it comes at the end, математика is still the subject of the sentence doing the action (the math is starting). Subjects always take the nominative (dictionary) case, regardless of where they sit in the sentence.