Breakdown of Он работал лишь два часа.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
работать
to work
два
two
час
hour
лишь
only, merely
Questions & Answers about Он работал лишь два часа.
Why is the word лишь used here instead of только?
Лишь and только both mean 'only' or 'just' and are mostly interchangeable in this context. Лишь is slightly more formal or literary. You could absolutely say Он работал только два часа and it would mean the exact same thing.
Why is the noun часа in the genitive singular form?
In Russian, when a noun follows the numbers 2, 3, or 4 (when the number is in the nominative or inanimate accusative case), the noun must be in the genitive singular. Therefore, the number два requires the genitive singular часа.
Why use the imperfective verb работал instead of a perfective verb?
We use the imperfective aspect because the sentence focuses on the duration of an action in the past. Whenever you are stating the simple fact of how long an ongoing action lasted (like 'for two hours'), the imperfective is the standard choice.
Could I put лишь at the beginning of the sentence?
Word order matters here. Words like лишь or только should be placed immediately before the word or phrase they restrict or emphasize. Since we are emphasizing 'only two hours', лишь belongs right before два часа.
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