Questions & Answers about Юноше было двадцать лет.
Why does the sentence start with юноше instead of юноша?
When talking about age in Russian, the person whose age is being described must be in the Dative case (which often answers 'to whom?'). The dictionary form is юноша, but since it ends in -а, the Dative ending becomes -е, making it юноше. You can think of the sentence literally as 'To the young man it was twenty years.'
If юноша is a young man, why does the past tense verb было end in -о (neuter) instead of -л (masculine)?
In Russian, expressing age is an impersonal construction, meaning there is no grammatical subject doing an action. Because the person is in the Dative case and not the main subject, the past tense verb defaults to the neuter form было. It doesn't matter if the person is male or female; the verb for age in the past will always be было.
Wait, юноша is a male, but it ends in -а. Does it follow masculine or feminine grammar rules?
It is a mix! It is a masculine noun because it refers to a male, so any adjectives attached to it must be masculine. However, because it ends in -а, its noun endings change exactly like a feminine noun. That's why it takes the -е ending in the Dative case, just like the feminine word мама becomes маме.
Why is the word for 'years' лет here?
In Russian, the word for 'year' changes depending on the number before it. For numbers ending in 1 (except 11), you use год. For numbers ending in 2, 3, or 4, you use года. But for numbers ending in 5 through 9, and 0 (like двадцать), you must use лет. This is a special plural form that historically meant 'summers'.
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