<p>The article offers a description of the semantics of the adverb <i>poka</i>, which, unlike the conjunction <i>poka</i>, unlike the homonymous conjunction <i>poka</i>, has, until now, not attracted researchers’ attention. The semantics of the adverb <i>poka</i> is examined in contrast to the semantics of the semantically close particle <i>eshche</i> in its continuative meaning. Both suggest the instability of a situation; however, while the latter expresses the duration of a situation and its possible completion, <i>poka</i> indicates its temporary character, saying nothing about the beginning or end of the situation. Furthermore, there are important differences in the functioning of <i>eshche</i> and <i>poka</i>. Namely, <i>poka</i>’s scope is always propositional, indifferent to the grammatical aspect of the predicate (unlike <i>eshche</i>, which requires an imperfective predicate), and combines poorly with other temporal markers in an utterance. This suggests that the function of <i>poka</i> is to limit the truth of a situation to a certain time interval. In doing so, a distinction should be made between the absolute and relative uses of <i>poka</i>. In the first case, the time interval is defined by the adverb itself, referring either to the moment of speech (speech mode) or to the events described (narrative mode); in the second case, it is defined by the situation described in the preceding context.</p>