Breakdown of Я вижу на табло, что посадка начинается без четверти девять.
я
I
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
видеть
to see
девять
nine
что
that (conjunction)
начинаться
to begin (of an event)
без
without
четверть
quarter
табло
display board
посадка
boarding
Questions & Answers about Я вижу на табло, что посадка начинается без четверти девять.
How does без четверти девять translate to 'at a quarter to nine' without using a preposition for 'at' like в?
When using the без (without) construction to tell time, you do not need an extra preposition to say 'at'. The phrase без четверти девять literally means 'without a quarter, nine', and it functions as both 'It is a quarter to nine' and 'At a quarter to nine'.
What grammatical cases are used in the phrase без четверти девять?
The preposition без always requires the genitive case, so the feminine noun четверть (quarter) changes to четверти. However, the upcoming hour stays in the nominative (dictionary) case, which is why it remains девять.
Why doesn't the word табло change its ending in the prepositional phrase на табло?
Табло (display board) is a borrowed foreign word. In Russian, most nouns borrowed from other languages that end in vowels like -о, -е, or -и (such as метро or кафе) are indeclinable. This means their endings never change to match the grammatical case.
Why is начинается reflexive here, ending in -ся?
You use the reflexive form начинается when an event begins on its own, without a specified person starting it. Here, the boarding (посадка) is just beginning. If the sentence mentioned who was initiating the boarding process, you would use the non-reflexive verb начинает.
Does the noun посадка only mean 'boarding'?
It means 'boarding' for transportation in this sentence, but посадка is a versatile word that can also mean 'landing' (when an aircraft touches down) or 'planting' (putting seeds in the ground). It comes from the root for sitting down, as seen in the verb садиться.
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