сейчас

Russian

Alternative forms

сейча́съ (sejčás) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
щас (ščas), счас (sčas), ща (šča), сча (sča) — informal pronunciation spellings

Etymology

Univerbation of сей (sej) + час (čas), ”this hour”, ”this time” (note: “сей” is dated, bookish or stilted (unlike “э́тот”), “час” in the sense of “time” is dated or poetic).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [sʲɪˈt͡ɕas] (phonetic respelling: сеча́с) (usual formal pronunciation)
IPA^(key): [sʲɪjˈt͡ɕas] (very carefully enunciated)
IPA^(key): [ɕːas] (phonetic respelling: счас) (usual casual pronunciation)
IPA^(key): [ɕːa] (phonetic respelling: сча) (very casual)
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -as

Adverb

сейча́с • (sejčás)

now (presently, at present, at the moment)
Synonyms: (over a broad timescale) в настоя́щее вре́мя (v nastojáščeje vrémja), (in contrast to the past) тепе́рь (tepérʹ)

Я сейча́с ем. ― Ja sejčás jem. ― I'm eating right now.

Мы должны́ де́йствовать сейча́с. ― My dolžný déjstvovatʹ sejčás. ― We must act now.
now (very recently in the past)
Synonym: то́лько что (tólʹko što)

Сейча́с уже́ завершён прое́кт. ― Sejčás užé zaveršón projékt. ― The project has now been completed.
now (very shortly)
Я собира́юсь туда́ идти́ сейча́с. ― Ja sobirájusʹ tudá idtí sejčás. ― I'm going there now.
immediately, right away, at first glance
Synonym: сра́зу (srázu)

Usage notes

In general, сейчас is stylistically neutral. Сейчас may always substitute теперь (though with a loss of nuance), but теперь may not always substitute сейчас. See теперь for more details.

Descendants

→ Southern Yukaghir: чаашэт (čāšet)

Interjection

сейча́с • (sejčás)

(colloquial, usually with a rushed pronunciation such as щас (ščas) or ща (šča)) hold on, one sec, wait
Synonyms: погоди́ (pogodí), пого́дь (pogódʹ), подожди́ (podoždí)

Ша-ща-ща-ща, секу́ндочку, щас, погоди́. ― Ša-šča-šča-šča, sekúndočku, ščas, pogodí. ― Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, one second, hold on, wait.