Questions & Answers about Подожди по крайней мере час.
Why use the perfective imperative подожди instead of the imperfective жди here?
For a specific, one-time request, Russian prefers the perfective imperative (подожди). The imperfective (жди) implies a continuous process ('keep waiting') or a general command, and can sometimes sound harsh or impatient in this context.
How does the phrase по крайней мере literally translate, and what case is it using?
It literally means 'by the extreme measure'. The preposition по triggers the dative case here, changing the feminine adjective крайняя (extreme, last) to крайней and the feminine noun мера (measure) to мере.
Does the word мере affect the case of the word час that follows it?
No, they are grammatically separate. Час is in the accusative case because it expresses a duration of time ('for an hour'). It is not governed by the phrase по крайней мере, and it looks identical to the nominative case because it is a masculine, inanimate noun.
Should there be commas around по крайней мере?
No. Even though it might feel like an introductory phrase in English, when по крайней мере directly modifies or emphasizes a specific quantity right next to it (like the time duration here), it is not set off by commas in Russian.
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