Breakdown of Стрелка сломалась ровно в пять минут двенадцатого.
пять
five
минута
minute
ровно
exactly
в
on / during (a time period)
двенадцатый
twelfth
сломаться
to break down (pf) / to break
стрелка
clock hand
Questions & Answers about Стрелка сломалась ровно в пять минут двенадцатого.
Why does it say двенадцатого (twelfth) when the English translation says "eleven"?
In Russian traditional time-telling, for the first half of the hour, you state how many minutes have passed into the upcoming hour. So пять минут двенадцатого literally means "five minutes of the twelfth (hour)". That is why it translates to "five minutes past eleven".
What case is в пять минут in here?
It is in the accusative case. When saying "at" a specific time with minutes in this traditional format, you use the preposition в + accusative for the minutes. Since пять is a number, its accusative form looks identical to the nominative here.
Why is сломалась used here instead of just сломала?
Сломалась is the reflexive form of the verb (indicated by the -сь ending). Сломала means it broke something else, but here the clock hand broke itself (or just "became broken"). Since стрелка is a feminine noun, the past tense verb takes the feminine reflexive ending -лась.
Does стрелка only mean "clock hand"?
No, стрелка literally means "little arrow" (from стрела meaning arrow). In Russian, it is the standard word used for the hands of a clock or watch, as well as pointers on dials, gauges, or drawn arrows.
Learn Стрелка сломалась ровно в пять минут двенадцатого 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