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Мы выбрали самовывоз, и выдача заказа заняла всего пять минут.

Мы выбрали самовывоз, и выдача заказа заняла всего пять минут.
We chose pickup, and collecting the order took only five minutes.
FromLesson 115inHardcore Russian

Questions & Answers about Мы выбрали самовывоз, и выдача заказа заняла всего пять минут.

Why is it мы выбрали and not мы выбирали?

Выбрали is the perfective past form of выбрать, so it means we chose / we selected as a completed action.

  • выбрать → выбрали = to choose, successfully, as a finished decision
  • выбирать → выбирали = to be choosing / to choose repeatedly / to choose in process

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a completed decision: We chose pickup. That is why выбрали fits best.

What exactly does самовывоз mean?

Самовывоз means self-pickup or pickup by the customer, as opposed to delivery.

It is a common word in shops, online orders, and restaurants. The idea is:

  • доставка = delivery
  • самовывоз = you go and collect it yourself

So Мы выбрали самовывоз means We chose pickup.

Why is самовывоз in this form? Shouldn’t there be a preposition?

No preposition is needed here because самовывоз is the direct object of выбрали.

The verb выбрать normally takes the accusative case:

  • выбрать доставку
  • выбрать самовывоз
  • выбрать товар

In this sentence, самовывоз happens to look the same in nominative and accusative because it is an inanimate masculine noun.

So:

  • nominative: самовывоз
  • accusative: самовывоз
What does выдача заказа mean literally?

Literally, выдача заказа means the handing over / issuing of the order.

Breakdown:

  • выдача = issuing, handing out, giving out
  • заказа = of the order

In natural English here, you would usually say something like:

  • order pickup
  • receiving the order
  • getting the order handed over

So the sentence is talking about the process of the store giving the order to the customer.

Why is it заказа and not заказ?

Because заказа is in the genitive case.

The noun выдача often takes a dependent noun in the genitive, similar to the handing over of the order in English.

So:

  • выдача = handing over
  • выдача заказа = handing over of the order

This is a very common Russian pattern:

  • чтение книги = reading of a book / reading a book
  • покупка машины = purchase of a car / buying a car
  • выдача заказа = handing over of an order
Why is it заняла?

Заняла is the past tense feminine singular form of занять in the meaning to take up (time).

The subject here is выдача заказа, and the main noun is выдача, which is feminine. Because Russian past tense agrees with gender and number, the verb must also be feminine singular:

  • выдача заняла
  • not выдача занял
  • not выдача заняли

So the grammar is:

  • выдача = feminine singular subject
  • заняла = feminine singular past tense verb
What does занять mean here? Is it the same as to occupy?

Yes, it is related. Занять can mean to occupy, to take, or to take up. In this sentence, it means to take (time).

So:

  • Это заняло час = It took an hour
  • Дорога заняла два дня = The trip took two days
  • Выдача заказа заняла пять минут = The order handover took five minutes

This is a very common Russian way to express how long something took.

What does всего add to the sentence?

Всего here means only or just.

So:

  • пять минут = five minutes
  • всего пять минут = only five minutes / just five minutes

It adds the idea that the time was surprisingly short or pleasantly short.

Why is the time expression пять минут not in some other case?

After expressions like занять meaning to take (time), Russian often uses a direct time expression without a preposition:

  • заняло минуту
  • заняло пять минут
  • заняло два часа

With numbers, the noun changes according to Russian number rules:

  • 1 минута
  • 2, 3, 4 минуты
  • 5+ минут

So пять минут is the normal form after five.

Could the sentence order be changed?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, although the original sentence sounds very natural and neutral:

  • Мы выбрали самовывоз, и выдача заказа заняла всего пять минут.

You could also say:

  • Мы выбрали самовывоз, и всего пять минут заняла выдача заказа.
  • Выдача заказа заняла всего пять минут, потому что мы выбрали самовывоз.

But the original version is the most straightforward. It first gives the choice (we chose pickup) and then the result (the order handover took only five minutes).

Is и best translated as and here, or does it have another nuance?

Here и is basically and, but it also links the first fact to the second in a natural narrative way:

  • We chose pickup, and the order handover took only five minutes.

Depending on context, English might sometimes express the connection more freely:

  • We chose pickup, so getting the order took only five minutes.
  • We chose pickup, and as a result it only took five minutes to get the order.

But the Russian word itself is simply и = and.

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