Урок триває годину.

The lesson lasts an hour.

Breakdown of Урок триває годину.

• урок: the lesson
• тривати: to last
• година: the hour

Questions & Answers about Урок триває годину.

What part of speech is триває and what does it literally mean?

Триває is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb тривати, which literally means “to last,” “to continue” or “to endure.” In this sentence it conveys “(it) lasts” or “(it) goes on.”

Why is годину in the accusative case rather than the instrumental?

In Ukrainian, the accusative case is used to express the duration of an action without a preposition. So “Урок триває годину” literally means “The lesson lasts an hour.” The instrumental case (годиною) is not used for duration; it typically indicates “when” (e.g. “about an hour ago” – “близько години тому”).

Could I add a numeral одна (one) before годину, and if so, which form—одна or одну?

Yes. If you explicitly say “one hour,” you must use the feminine accusative form одну, because година is feminine:
Урок триває одну годину.
However, native speakers often omit одну when the duration is clear from context.

How is Урок триває годину pronounced and where are the stresses?

Approximate phonetic:
U-ROK try-VA-je ho-DY-nu
Stresses fall on the first syllable of Урок, the second syllable of триває, and the second syllable of годину.

Can I replace триває with another verb?

Yes. A common alternative is займає (3 sg. of займати). It shifts the nuance from “it lasts” to “it takes (time)”:
Урок займає годину.
Both are correct; тривати focuses on ongoing duration, займати on how much time something consumes.

Is it possible to specify the duration in minutes instead?

Absolutely. You continue to use the accusative for the time expression:
Урок триває 60 хвилин.
Here хвилин is the accusative plural of хвилина (“minute”) to indicate “for 60 minutes.”

What if I want to talk about a past lesson—how would I change the verb?

You would switch to the past tense of тривати. Since урок is masculine, use тривав:
Урок тривав годину.
If the subject were feminine (e.g. лекція), you’d say тривала годину.