Breakdown of В этой спешке никто не слышал гудок поезда без десяти три.
не
not
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
в
in / to (direction)
слышать
to hear
Questions & Answers about В этой спешке никто не слышал гудок поезда без десяти три.
How does the time phrase без десяти три literally translate, and what cases are used?
It literally means "without ten [minutes] three [o'clock]." After the preposition без (without), the number of minutes must be in the Genitive case (десяти). The upcoming hour stays in the Nominative case (три).
Why isn't there a preposition like в (at) before без десяти три?
When expressing "minutes to the hour" using the без construction, Russian drops the preposition completely. You just state the phrase directly. Adding в before без to mean "at" would be a grammatical mistake!
Why do we need не if we already said никто (no one)?
This is a classic Russian "double negative." Whenever you use a negative word like никто (no one) or ничего (nothing), you must always make the verb negative as well by putting не in front of it.
What cases are used in the phrase гудок поезда?
Гудок (horn) is the direct object, so it is in the Accusative case (which looks identical to the Nominative here because it's an inanimate masculine noun). Поезда is in the Genitive case, literally meaning "the horn of the train." Using the Genitive is the standard way to connect two nouns like this in Russian.