Breakdown of Лампа горит весь вечер.
лампа
lamp
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone
вечер
evening
гореть
to burn
Questions & Answers about Лампа горит весь вечер.
Why does this sentence use горит (burns) instead of saying the lamp is 'on'?
In English, we say a light or electronic device is 'on'. In Russian, the verb гореть (to burn) is commonly used for lights, lamps, and fires. So to say 'the lamp is on', you literally say it is 'burning'.
What grammatical case is used for весь вечер?
It is in the accusative case. In Russian, to express how long an action lasts (duration), you put the time phrase in the accusative case without a preposition. Because вечер (evening) is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary form.
How does the phrase весь вечер affect the choice of verb here?
The phrase весь вечер (all evening) highlights that the action is continuous and takes up a specific block of time. This requires an imperfective verb, which is why we use the imperfective горит to show the ongoing process.
If I wanted to say 'all night' instead of 'all evening', would весь stay the same?
No, весь (all/the whole) acts like an adjective and must match the noun's gender, number, and case. Since вечер is masculine accusative, we use весь. If you used the feminine noun ночь (night), you would need the feminine accusative form, making it всю ночь.
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