Accusative Duration

Level 2Sounds Like znahídnij trivalostí

The Accusative of Duration expresses the total span of time an action takes. It answers the question 'How long?' (як довго?) and, unlike English, does not use a preposition like 'for'.

How It Works

The знахідний тривалості (Accusative of Duration) is a fundamental way to describe time spans.

1. Morphology:

Feminine nouns in -а/-я: Change to -у/-ю. Example: година (hour) becomes годину.
Feminine nouns ending in a consonant: Stay the same as the Nominative. Example: ніч (night) stays ніч.
Masculine/Neuter inanimate nouns: Stay the same as the Nominative. Example: день (day) stays день.
Plural nouns: Use the Nominative plural for numbers 2, 3, and 4, and the Genitive plural for 5 and above.

2. Usage with Adjectives:
If you use words like 'all' (весь) or 'whole' (цілий), they must agree in the Accusative case. For example: цілу ніч (a whole night) or весь день (all day).

3. Aspect Nuance:
While often used with the Imperfective aspect to show ongoing duration, it can also be used with the Perfective aspect to indicate how long a specific completed state lasted (e.g., 'Він посидів годину').

4. Duration vs. Completion:
It is important to distinguish between the bare Accusative and the preposition за + Accusative:

Bare Accusative: Describes how long an action lasted. Example: Я читав книгу годину (I read the book for an hour).
За + Accusative: Describes the time taken to complete a task. Example: Я прочитав книгу за годину (I finished the book in an hour).

5. Comparison with Prepositions:
Avoid using для (for) when you mean 'for the duration of.' Using на + Accusative implies an intended future duration (e.g., 'Я їду на тиждень'), whereas the bare Accusative describes the actual time spent.

Examples (4)

Він працював весь день.
He worked all day.
Word by Word: He worked all day.
The masculine noun 'день' (day) and the adjective 'весь' (all) are in the Accusative, which looks like the Nominative for inanimate objects.
Ми чекали цілу годину.
We waited for a whole hour.
Word by Word: We waited whole hour.
The feminine noun 'година' changes to 'годину' and the adjective 'ціла' changes to 'цілу' in the Accusative case.
Вона жила в Лондоні три роки.
She lived in London for three years.
Word by Word: She lived in London three years.
After the number 'три', the noun 'роки' stays in the Nominative plural form to express duration.
Я читав цю книгу тиждень.
I read this book for a week.
Word by Word: I read this book week.
The bare Accusative 'тиждень' indicates the total time spent reading.

Common Mistakes

Using the preposition 'для' (for) to express duration.
Я чекав для години.
Я чекав годину.
English speakers often translate 'for' literally as 'для', but Ukrainian uses the bare Accusative case for time duration.
Failing to decline adjectives or feminine nouns ending in -а/-я.
Він спав ціла ніч.
Він спав цілу ніч.
Adjectives and feminine nouns ending in -а/-я must take the Accusative ending -у/-ю. Note that feminine nouns ending in a consonant, like 'ніч', do not change their form, but the accompanying adjective still must.

How It Connects

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Accusative DurationLevel 2

Learn This First

To use the Accusative for duration, you need to understand how the Accusative case is formed for different genders, particularly how feminine nouns change their endings and how inanimate masculine/neuter nouns remain unchanged.