Greek to Russian: at three and until three need different numeral forms
The appointment time and the limit are different relations
Greek στις τρεις means at three, while μέχρι τις τρεις means until three or, with an appropriate action, by three. The numeral remains τρεις in these short source expressions. Russian marks the difference not only through the preposition but through forms inside the time phrase. Copying the numeral unchanged can therefore produce a malformed target expression.
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies illustrates в три часа for at three and до трёх часов for until three. These are the same clock value, but the target numeral and noun both change. The second is not an instruction to arrive at a different hour, and its plural-looking noun does not introduce several separate appointments.
Do not repair the noun without checking the numeral
The university lesson explains that two, three, and four combine with a genitive singular noun in the basic counting pattern. Other case environments require their own construction, with the noun in a matching plural case. This is why changing only the Russian preposition while retaining the rest of at three is insufficient.
An original Greek office message might say Η συνάντηση είναι στις τρεις, the meeting is at three. A second line, Θα είμαι εδώ μέχρι τις τρεις, says I will be here until three. The target should keep the same time while distinguishing the meeting’s scheduled point from the speaker’s availability limit.
If the second line is mistranslated as another at-three statement, the reader could arrive just when the speaker is leaving. The grammatical distinction has a practical scheduling consequence. It is not enough that a translation contains the right digit or a recognizable word for three.
Five and six do not copy the three-hour pattern
The following university lesson illustrates в шесть часов, at six, and до шести часов, until six. The noun form is the same in those two examples, while the numeral changes. A pattern learned from three must consequently not be reduced to a rule that both visible words always change after a different preposition.
Greek στις έξι and μέχρι τις έξι provide a comparable source pair with an unchanged numeral. Their Russian forms still need the target case relation. The source’s stability is not evidence that a stable target numeral is appropriate, just as a stable target noun in the six examples does not mean case has ceased to matter.
Clock time also differs from duration. Τρεις ώρες means three hours, whereas στις τρεις can locate an event at three o’clock. A Greek message about waiting for three hours should not acquire an appointment-time preposition merely because the target noun phrase resembles a familiar clock expression.
The examples here concern ordinary clock statements with inanimate time nouns. Russian numerical constructions involving people, different prepositions, or compound numbers introduce further distinctions. For an appointment message, establish the intended relation first: a scheduled time, a period of waiting, or the limit of someone’s availability. The numeral phrase then belongs inside that specific construction.
Language references