Questions & Answers about Уже поздно, пора спать.
Why is there no subject like "I" or "we" in this sentence?
Both поздно (it is late) and пора (it is time) are impersonal words. Just like with приходится, they don't take a standard subject in the Nominative case. If you wanted to specify who needs to sleep, you would use the Dative case: нам пора спать (it is time for us to sleep). Here, the Dative is just omitted to make a general statement.
Could I use приходится here instead of пора?
It would completely change the meaning. Пора спать means "it is time to sleep," which is natural when it gets late. Приходится спать means "one is forced to sleep" or "one has to sleep due to circumstances" (for example, if the power went out and there is nothing else to do).
Why do we use the imperfective verb спать here instead of the perfective поспать?
When it is bedtime at the end of the day, you refer to the general, ongoing process of sleeping, which requires the imperfective спать. The perfective поспать means "to take a nap" or "to sleep for a bit," which doesn't fit the context of it being late at night.
How would I change this sentence to the past tense ("It was late, it was time to sleep")?
Because these are impersonal constructions, you add the neuter past tense of the verb "to be" (было) to both parts. The sentence would become: Уже было поздно, было пора спать.
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