Question 1

Why is "for thirty minutes" translated as just тридцать минут without a preposition like за?

Accepted Answer

When you want to express how long an ongoing action lasted (its duration), you just put the time expression in the Accusative case with no preposition. If you used за тридцать минут, it would mean you completed making the cream in thirty minutes, which changes the meaning and would require a perfective verb.

Question 2

Why use the imperfective verb готовили instead of the perfective приготовили?

Accepted Answer

The imperfective готовили is used because the sentence highlights the continuous process of cooking and how long it went on. Any time you use a "bare" time expression to show duration, you must use an imperfective verb. To use the perfective приготовили, you would need to focus on the completion of the result: Мы приготовили этот крем за тридцать минут (We finished making this cream in thirty minutes).

Question 3

Why is the word for minutes spelled минут here instead of минуты?

Accepted Answer

This is the Genitive Plural form of the feminine noun минута. In Russian, numbers ending in 5 through 9, as well as 0 (like тридцать), require the noun that follows them to be in the Genitive Plural. For feminine nouns ending in -а, the Genitive Plural usually drops the final vowel, leaving just минут.

Question 4

этот крем is the direct object being prepared. Shouldn't it change its ending for the Accusative case?

Accepted Answer

It actually is in the Accusative case! However, because крем is a masculine, inanimate (non-living) noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary (Nominative) form. The modifier этот (this) also follows this rule and stays the same.

Мы готовили этот крем тридцать минут.

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