Breakdown of Spotkanie będzie trwać niespełna godzinę, maksymalnie dwie.
być
to be
dwa
two
spotkanie
meeting (n)
godzina
hour; o'clock
trwać
to last
niespełna
not quite
maksymalnie
at most
Questions & Answers about Spotkanie będzie trwać niespełna godzinę, maksymalnie dwie.
What exactly does niespełna mean here, and does it affect the case of the noun that follows it?
Niespełna is a particle meaning "not quite" or "just under." It is used to approximate numbers. Importantly, unlike prepositions like około (which force the genitive case), niespełna does not change the grammatical case of the noun phrase. The case is still determined by the rest of the sentence.
Since niespełna doesn't change the case, why is godzinę in the accusative case here?
Expressions of duration (answering "how long?") naturally take the accusative case in Polish. The verb trwać (to last) governs this duration, so the basic feminine noun godzina becomes the accusative godzinę.
Why is the final word dwie and not dwa or dwóch?
Dwie is the feminine accusative form of the number two, agreeing with the implied feminine noun godziny (hours). Just like niespełna, the adverb maksymalnie (at most) acts as an approximation particle and doesn't force a case change, so the accusative of duration applies here as well.
Is there a difference in meaning between niespełna godzinę and mniej niż godzinę?
Yes, there is a slight nuance. Mniej niż godzinę simply means "less than an hour" (it could be 10 minutes). Niespełna godzinę translates better to "not quite an hour," strongly implying that the duration will be very close to a full 60 minutes, just slightly under.
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