Breakdown of Скажите точное время, пожалуйста.
время
time
сказать
to tell, to say
пожалуйста
please
точный
exact, precise
Questions & Answers about Скажите точное время, пожалуйста.
Why do we use the perfective verb скажите here instead of the imperfective говорите?
We use the perfective скажите because you are asking for a single, specific result: telling you the time once. The imperfective говорите would sound like an ongoing command, meaning keep speaking or speak in general.
What case is время in here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb скажите. Время is an irregular neuter inanimate noun, so its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative dictionary form.
Why does the adjective точное end in -ое?
It modifies the noun время. Since время is neuter and in the accusative case, the adjective must take the matching neuter accusative ending, which is -ое.
Is it grammatically correct to add мне to this sentence?
Yes, you could say Скажите мне точное время. However, Russian frequently drops pronouns like мне when the context makes it completely obvious who is receiving the information.
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