How Long an Activity Lasts
A time expression without a preposition can say how long an activity lasts. Cijeli sat means for a whole hour in that use.
How It Works
Čekam cijeli sat. tells how long the waiting lasts. Sat is masculine inanimate, so its accusative form looks like the nominative. The modifier cijeli belongs to the same phrase.
A feminine example makes the case clearer: Čekam jednu minutu. Jednu and minutu show accusative singular endings. A quantified duration such as pet minuta instead uses the noun form required by its numeral.
Do not confuse duration with a completion deadline or a point in the future. Za sat vremena can give a different time relation. Aspect also matters: an ongoing or repeated activity is not described from the same viewpoint as a bounded completed event.
Examples (3)
- Čekam cijeli sat.
I have been waiting for a whole hour.
The duration continues to the current reference point.
- Čekao sam jednu minutu.
I waited for one minute.
Jednu minutu is an accusative duration phrase.
- Učimo hrvatski svaki dan jedan sat.
We study Croatian for one hour every day.
Jedan sat measures the length of each activity.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The accusative can measure duration as well as mark an object; contrast those roles.
Related Patterns
Practice How Long an Activity Lasts in Bubblegum
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