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### Exact Duration: The Prefix про-

When you want to emphasize that an action lasted for a specific, continuous—and often painfully long—chunk of time, attach the prefix **про-** to the verb.

These verbs are perfective because they view that entire block of time as one completed event. They are always paired with a time expression in the Accusative case, such as **час** (an hour), **два часа** (two hours), or **весь день** (all day).

### Enduring the Delay

If your flight is delayed, you might spend hours sitting (**просидеть**), standing (**простоять**), or waiting (**прождать**). Notice how the prefix transforms a continuous state into a finished block of time spent doing it.

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### Sleeping and Staying

If the wait is exceptionally long, passengers might simply stay or "be" (**пробыть**) in the terminal all day, or even sleep (**проспать**) right through the delay.

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### Weather and Chatting

Sometimes flights are grounded due to poor, "unfit for flying" weather (**нелётная погода**). To pass the time, stranded travelers might strike up a conversation and talk (**проговорить**) for hours.

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Spans of time (про-)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative (это)

Noun gender

Soft-sign nouns (-ь)

Subject pronouns (я, ты, он...)

Yes/no questions (да / нет)

Basic interrogatives (кто / что)

Basic negation (не)

Coordinating conjunctions (и / а)

Possessive pronouns (мой, твой, наш, ваш)

Demonstrative pronouns (этот, эта, это)

Adjective agreement

Which and whose (какой, чей)

First conjugation verbs, singular (-ать)

First conjugation verbs, plural (-ать)

Second conjugation verbs (-ить)

Irregular present tense verbs

Adverbs of manner (как, очень)

Locations in prepositional case (в / на)

Prepositional case modifiers (-ом, -ой)

Topics of speech (о, об)

Direct objects (-у, -ю)

Direct object pronouns (меня, тебя)

Verbs of motion (идти, ехать)

Destination (куда, в, на)

Plural nouns (-ы, -и, -а, -я)

Irregular plural nouns (друзья, дети)

Plural adjectives and pronouns (-ые, -ие)

Numbers 1 to 10 (один, два, три)

Possession with pronouns (у меня есть)

Possession with nouns (-а, -я, -ы, -и)

Genitive of negation (нет)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Quantities with mass nouns (сколько, много, мало)

Animate direct objects

The past tense of to be (был, была, было, были)

Regular past tense verbs

Time sequence expressions (вчера, завтра, раньше, потом)

Verb aspect in the past tense

Dative personal pronouns (мне, тебе, ему)

Expressing likes (нравится, нравятся)

Absence (нет)

Expressing age (год, года, лет)

Indirect objects (-у, -ю, -е)

Modal verbs (хотеть, мочь)

Reason and contrast (поэтому, но)

Double negation (ничего, никогда)

Reflexive verbs (-ся, -сь)

Polite requests and instructions (-ите, -йте)

Days of the week (в + Accusative)

Compound future tense (буду...)

Simple future tense

Accompaniment (с)

Multidirectional verbs of motion (ходить, ездить)

Greetings and goodbyes (здравствуйте, привет)

Thank you and sorry (спасибо, извините)

Countries and languages (русский, английский)

Meeting people (меня зовут, как дела)

Public transport (трамвай, остановка)

Left, right and the compass (слева, справа)

Places in the city (цирк, зоопарк)

Fruit and vegetables (помидор, огурец)

Post and travel (открытка, чемодан)

Family and relatives (внук, родственник)

Jobs and professions (инженер, продавец)

Sport and games (футбол, теннис)

Describing people (умный, сильный)

Health and the body (болен, здоровье)

The months of the year (январь, февраль)

Accusative feminine and inanimate adjectives (-ую, -юю)

Accusative animate masculine adjectives (-ого, -его)

Short-form adjectives (готов, занят)

Personal obligation (должен, должна)

Professions in the instrumental case

Genitive singular adjectives and possessives

Prepositions of absence and purpose (без, для)

Dative singular adjectives and possessives

Impersonal states (мне холодно)

Impersonal obligation (надо, нужно)

Impersonal permission (можно / нельзя)

Instrumental adjectives and pronouns

Reciprocal verbs (с + Instrumental)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (свой)

Reflexive pronouns (себя)

Specific indefinite pronouns (-то)

Non-specific indefinite pronouns (-нибудь)

Negative pronouns (никто / ничто)

Numbers 11 to 20

Question	Answer
to stay (for a specified time)	пробыть
the terminal	терминал
We stayed in this terminal all day.	Мы пробыли в этом терминале весь день.
to sit (for a specified time)	просидеть
Did they really sit in the terminal for five hours?	Неужели они просидели в терминале пять часов?
to stand (for a specified time)	простоять
The passengers stood in line for two hours.	Пассажиры простояли в очереди два часа.
the zone	зона
We stood in the waiting zone for almost twenty-four hours.	Мы простояли в зоне ожидания почти сутки.
to wait (for a specified time)	прождать
We waited for the flight all morning, but they canceled it.	Мы прождали рейс всё утро, но его отменили.
Is it really possible to wait for a plane for two whole days?	Разве можно прождать самолёт двое суток?
to sleep (for a specified time)	проспать
My brother slept in an armchair through the whole delay.	Мой брат проспал в кресле всю задержку.
The toddlers slept on the suitcases all morning.	Малыши проспали на чемоданах всё утро.
About three hundred passengers stayed in the terminal all day.	Около трёхсот пассажиров пробыли в терминале весь день.
to talk (for a specified time)	проговорить
We drank a cup of tea and talked all morning.	Мы выпили чашку чаю и проговорили всё утро.
They talked on the phone for a whole hour.	Они проговорили по телефону целый час.
unfit for flying	нелётный
Due to poor flying weather, we waited five hours for departure.	Из-за нелётной погоды мы прождали вылет пять часов.
The weather was unfit for flying, and we sat in the cafe all evening.	Погода была нелётной, и мы просидели в кафе весь вечер.
the customs officer	таможенник
The strict customs officer stood there all day.	Строгий таможенник простоял там весь день.
We waited for this customs officer for a whole hour.	Мы прождали этого таможенника целый час.
We sat in the waiting area for an hour.	Мы просидели в зоне ожидания час.