Breakdown of Наша экспедиция длилась с две тысячи десятого до две тысячи тринадцатого года.
наш
our (наш, наша, наше)
два
two
год
year
тысяча
thousand
десятый
tenth
тринадцатый
thirteenth
до
before, until
экспедиция
expedition
длиться
to last
с
from (a starting point in time)
Questions & Answers about Наша экспедиция длилась с две тысячи десятого до две тысячи тринадцатого года.
Why do only десятого and тринадцатого change their endings, while две тысячи stays the same?
When saying years in Russian, you use ordinal numbers (like "the two thousand and tenth year"). The rule for compound ordinal numbers is that only the very last word changes its case. Since the prepositions с (from) and до (to) require the genitive case, десятый becomes десятого and тринадцатый becomes тринадцатого, but две тысячи stays exactly as it is.
Why is the word года only at the very end of the sentence? Shouldn't it be after both years?
You could technically say года twice (as in с две тысячи десятого года...), but it sounds overly wordy to natives. When expressing a continuous span of years, it is standard and much more natural to drop the first года and just place it once at the very end of the time span.
Why is the verb длилась in the imperfective aspect here? The expedition is completely finished, right?
Yes, it is finished, but verbs that describe how long something went on (like длиться - to last) almost always use the imperfective aspect. Russian uses the imperfective here because the sentence focuses on the continuous duration of the event rather than just a one-time completed result.
Why is the year built with две тысячи instead of два тысячи?
Тысяча (thousand) is a feminine noun. In Russian, the number two has a special feminine form, две, which must be used with feminine nouns. Since numbers 2, 3, and 4 are followed by the genitive singular, тысяча becomes тысячи. Remember that this whole block acts as the unchangeable first part of the year.
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