Word
Сдайте отчёт к пяти часам.
Meaning
Hand in the report by five o'clock.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Сдайте отчёт к пяти часам.
How do we say "by" a certain time in this sentence?
To express a deadline ("by" a specific time), Russian uses the preposition к followed by the Dative case. That is why we see к пяти часам.
Normally we say пять часов (Genitive plural). Why is it пяти часам here?
You are right that normally, the number 5 requires the Genitive plural (часов). However, because the preposition к demands the Dative case, the entire phrase must decline into the Dative. The number пять becomes пяти, and the noun becomes часам.
Doesn't the verb сдайте mean "pass", like passing an exam?
Yes, the verb сдать is often learned as "to pass an exam". However, its core meaning is "to hand over" or "to submit". In a business or academic setting, you use it for submitting assignments, projects, or a report (отчёт).
Why is the perfective command сдайте used instead of the imperfective сдавайте?
Сдайте is perfective because this is a one-time instruction focusing on the successful result: handing in this specific report. If it were a general, recurring rule (like "Always hand in your reports by five"), you would use the imperfective сдавайте.