Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Вода закипає за дві хвилини.

In Ukrainian, за followed by the accusative case indicates the time required for something to happen – “in X time.” Here, дві хвилини is accusative, so за дві хвилини literally means “in two minutes” as in “it takes two minutes for the water to start boiling.”

Why is дві used instead of два, and how do numerals agree with nouns?

Numeral два has gendered forms. Since хвилина is feminine, you use дві. With numerals 2–4, the counted noun takes the genitive singular (хвилина → хвилини), so you get дві хвилини.

Why is вода in the nominative case rather than another case like genitive?

Because вода is the subject of the sentence (“what is boiling?” → “water”). The subject in Ukrainian is always in the nominative case.

What tense and aspect is закипає, and what nuance does it add?

закипає is present tense, 3rd person singular, imperfective aspect of закипати (“to begin to boil”/“to be boiling”). Imperfective highlights the process or habitual action; here it makes a general statement: “Water boils in two minutes.”

What’s the difference between кипіти, закипати, and закипіти?

• кипіти (imperfective) – to boil/be boiling continuously.
• закипати (imperfective) – to start boiling (focus on the onset).
• закипіти (perfective) – to boil/come to a boil (result, one-time event).
In our sentence, закипає uses the imperfective onset form.

Could I use через дві хвилини instead of за дві хвилини, and what’s the difference?

Both mean “in two minutes,” but they serve slightly different roles:
• за + Acc = duration needed (“it takes two minutes”).
• через + Acc = point in the future when something happens (“two minutes from now”).
So вода закипає за дві хвилини stresses “it takes two minutes to boil,” while вода закипить через дві хвилини means “in two minutes (from now) the water will come to a boil.”

Why aren’t there words for “the” or “a” in Вода закипає за дві хвилини?

Ukrainian doesn’t use definite or indefinite articles. Nouns stand without the/a. Definiteness is understood from context or added words like цей (this) or той (that). Here вода can mean general “water” or “the water you see.”

Is the word order fixed? Could I say За дві хвилини вода закипає?

Yes. Ukrainian word order is flexible for emphasis. За дві хвилини вода закипає is perfectly correct; it simply puts the time frame at the beginning for emphasis.

How would I ask “How long does it take water to boil?” in Ukrainian?

A common phrasing is:
Скільки часу потрібно, щоб вода закипіла?
• Скільки часу = “How much time”
• потрібно, щоб = “is needed for”
• вода закипіла = “the water to come to a boil” (perfective)