Russian preposition "на"
For how long …?
Imagine how much fun you can have if you go to Russia for a week. You would probably be shopping, sightseeing, meeting new friends, dining out and playing the whole week long. Of course, you would like to have a hotel room reserved for at least a week to enjoy yourself to the fullest. When people want to know for how long you will be doing something, they use the phrase:
На сколько ты/вы + [verb] + [noun]? [nah SKOHL'-kah ti/vi...] |
For how long + [verb] + you-familiar/you-polite + [noun]? | |
На сколько ты поедешь в Москву? [nah SKOHL'-kah ti pah-YEH-deesh vmahs-KVOO] |
For how long will you go to Moscow? | |
На сколько вы приехали в Москву? [nah SKOHL'-kah vi pree-YEH-kha-lee vmahs-KVOO] |
For how long have you come to Moscow? | |
На сколько вы хотите забронировать номер? [nah SKOHL'-kah vi kha-TEE-teh zah-brah-NEE-rah-vaht' NOH-myehr] |
For how long do you want to reserve the room? |
To answer these question correctly, you should know how numbers are used in combination with the preposition HA and the words ЧАС (hour), ДЕНЬ (day), МЕСЯЦ (month), ГОД (year), МИНУТА (minute) and НЕДЕЛЯ (week). The following tables will help you with declensions.
Declension tables for nouns of time
Used in the phrase:
НА + [number] + [noun for time period]
(e.g. на один час = for one hour)
Number |
hour(s) |
day(s) |
month(s) |
year(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 (один) | час | день | месяц | год |
2, 3, 4 | часа | дня | месяца | года |
5 – 20... | часов | дней | месяцев | лет |
Number |
minute(s) |
week(s) |
---|---|---|
1 (одну) | минуту | неделю |
2 (две), 3, 4 | минуты | недели |
5 – 20... | минут | недель |
Answering the questions
Now that you know how the nouns of time change it will be easy to answer above questions. Here are some examples:
Я поеду в Москву на две недели. [ya pah-YEH-doo vmahs-KVOO nah dvyeh nee-DYEH-lee] |
I will go to Moscow for two weeks. | |
Я приехал в Москву на 2 года. [ya pree-YEH-khahl vmahs-KVOO nah dvah GOH-dah] |
I came to Moscow for two years. | |
Я хочу забронировать номер на 10 дней. [ya kha-CHOO zah-brah-NEE-ruh-vuht' NOH-myehr nah DYEH-seet' dnyehy] |
I want to reserve the room for ten days. |
Mini Quiz #1
Use the words in the brackets to answer the question. Make sure to consult the table above when picking the proper form of the nouns "day", "week" and "month".
На сколько вы приехали в Москву? (2, неделя)
На сколько вы хотите забронировать номер? (5, день)
На сколько ты поедешь в Санкт-Петербург? (1, месяц)