Breakdown of Он приедет через час. Ждать минут двадцать.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
час
hour
минута
minute
ждать
to wait (imperfective)
двадцать
twenty
приехать
to arrive (by transport, pf)
через
in (after a period of time)
Questions & Answers about Он приедет через час. Ждать минут двадцать.
Why does the sentence say минут двадцать instead of двадцать минут?
In Russian, you can swap the order of a number and a noun to mean "approximately." Normally, you would say двадцать минут for exactly twenty minutes. By inverting it to минут двадцать, it changes the meaning to "about twenty minutes."
Does changing the word order to минут двадцать affect the noun's case?
No, the grammar rules remain exactly the same. The number двадцать requires the noun to be in the genitive plural, which is минут. The inversion only adds the meaning of approximation.
Why do we use через to say he will arrive "in" an hour?
When talking about an event happening after a certain amount of time has passed from now, Russian uses the preposition через followed by the accusative case. Here, через час implies the wait is "through" the duration of an hour.
Why is Ждать (to wait) in the infinitive here?
Using an infinitive on its own creates an impersonal sentence showing necessity or an inevitable fact. Ждать минут двадцать means "There is a wait of about twenty minutes" or "One has to wait," without attaching the action to a specific person (like "I" or "we").
Does the verb приедет give us a clue about how he is traveling?
Yes. приедет is the perfective future form of приехать, which means "to arrive by vehicle" (like a car, bus, or train). If he were arriving on foot, the sentence would use придёт instead.
Learn Он приедет через час. Ждать минут двадцать and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free