Breakdown of Мой начальник очень пунктуальный: он хочет начать встречу в двадцать минут одиннадцатого.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
очень
very
хотеть
to want
Questions & Answers about Мой начальник очень пунктуальный: он хочет начать встречу в двадцать минут одиннадцатого.
Why does the Russian sentence use одиннадцатого (eleventh) when the English translation says 'past ten'?
In traditional Russian time-telling for the first half of the hour, you state the minutes that have passed heading towards the upcoming hour. So, двадцать минут одиннадцатого literally means 'twenty minutes of the eleventh hour' (which means 10:20).
What case is used for двадцать минут after the preposition в?
It is in the Accusative case. When saying 'at' a specific minute on the clock, the preposition в triggers the Accusative. For an inanimate numeral like двадцать, the Accusative form looks exactly the same as the Nominative.
Why use the perfective verb начать instead of the imperfective начинать?
The boss wants to start this specific meeting just once. Because it refers to a single, concrete action with a clear result (the meeting being underway), we use the perfective начать.
Could I use собрание instead of встречу to say 'meeting' here?
Yes, but they have slightly different flavors. Собрание usually implies a formal assembly, board meeting, or structured staff gathering. Встреча (which becomes встречу in the Accusative here) is a broader, very common word for any planned get-together, appointment, or business meeting.