Breakdown of Он обычно предупреждает меня за пять минут до встречи.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
я
I
обычно
usually
встреча
meeting
пять
five
минута
minute
до
before, until
за ... до
before (in 'за ... до ...')
предупреждать
to warn (impf)
Questions & Answers about Он обычно предупреждает меня за пять минут до встречи.
How does the phrase за пять минут до встречи literally work to mean "five minutes before the meeting"?
To say how long before an event something happens, Russian uses a specific formula: за + [amount of time in Accusative] + до + [the event in Genitive]. Here, за пять минут gives the amount of time, and до встречи names the upcoming event.
Since за requires the Accusative case here, why is the word минут used instead of an Accusative form?
The phrase пять минут actually is in the Accusative case! For inanimate objects, the Accusative form of the number пять is just пять. However, numbers 5 and above always force the noun that follows them into the Genitive plural. So, минут is the Genitive plural form of минута.
Why do we use the imperfective verb предупреждает instead of its perfective counterpart?
We use the imperfective aspect because this is a recurring, habitual action. The adverb обычно (usually) is your biggest clue. If this were a specific, one-time event in the future (like "He will warn me"), we would use the perfective verb предупредит.
Why does the word встреча change to встречи at the end of the sentence?
It changes to the Genitive case because it immediately follows the preposition до (before/until), which always requires the Genitive. Since встреча (meeting) is a feminine noun ending in -а, it takes the -и ending in the Genitive singular.
Learn Он обычно предупреждает меня за пять минут до встречи 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