Breakdown of Пора идти домой.
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
домой
home
пора
it is time (to)
Questions & Answers about Пора идти домой.
This lesson is about words like "приходится" (one has to). How does "пора" fit into this topic?
The word пора works exactly like the impersonal necessity words you are learning! It doesn't take a standard subject in the Nominative case. Instead, if you want to specify who it is time for, you use the Dative case followed by the infinitive. For example, "It's time for us to go" is Нам пора идти. In our sentence, the person it is time for is simply implied from the context.
Why is the imperfective verb "идти" used here instead of the perfective "пойти"?
The word пора almost always pairs with an imperfective verb when it implies "it is time to start doing something." Using the imperfective идти focuses on the process of getting going or leaving, which is the natural way Russians express that it is time for an action to commence.
Why isn't there a translation for "It is" at the beginning of the Russian sentence?
Russian impersonal sentences don't use a dummy pronoun like the English "it". The word пора acts as a standalone expression that inherently means "it is time". Furthermore, because this is in the present tense, the Russian "to be" verb is omitted, so "it is time" becomes just one word: пора.
Why does the sentence use "домой" instead of "дома"?
The word дома means "at home" indicating a static location, answering the question где? (where at?). Because this sentence involves a verb of motion (идти) towards a destination, you must use the directional adverb домой (to home / homewards), which answers the question куда? (where to?).
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