Задача занимает две минуты.

The task takes two minutes.

Breakdown of Задача занимает две минуты.

• минута: the minute
• два: two
• занимать: to take
• задача: the task

Questions & Answers about Задача занимает две минуты.

What does занимает mean in this context?

занимает here means “takes” in the sense of using up time. It’s the imperfective present form of занять, so Задача занимает две минуты literally means “The task takes two minutes.”

Why две минуты and not два минуты or два минут?

1. Минута is feminine, so you use две (not два).
2. After numerals 2, 3, 4, Russian puts the noun in genitive singular. For минута, genitive singular is минуты.
   Together that gives две минуты.

Which grammatical case is две минуты, and why does it look like that?

• The entire phrase две минуты functions as the direct object of занимает, so it’s in the accusative case.
• Numerals 2–4 require the noun in genitive singular, hence минуты.
• With inanimate feminine nouns, accusative = nominative, so две минуты appears like the nominative form.

Could I use another verb instead of занимает, such as длится or требуется?