Breakdown of Ему нужно продлить визу на полтора года.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
год
year
нужно
it is necessary
виза
visa
полтора
one and a half [f. полторы, obl. полутора]
на
for (a period of time)
продлить
to extend
Questions & Answers about Ему нужно продлить визу на полтора года.
Why do we use "на" here instead of just saying the time period?
The preposition на + Accusative case is used to show intended duration—how long the result of the action is meant to last. He wants the visa to be valid for a year and a half. If you dropped на and just said продлить визу полтора года, it would mean the actual paperwork and process of extending the visa would take him a year and a half to complete!
Why is the word for "a year and a half" полтора?
Russian has a specific word for "one and a half": полтора for masculine and neuter nouns, and полторы for feminine nouns. Because год (year) is a masculine noun, we use полтора.
If "на" takes the Accusative case here, why is the word "года" in the Genitive?
The preposition на is putting the time phrase into the Accusative case, and the Accusative form of полтора is simply полтора. However, the number полтора always forces the noun that comes right after it into the Genitive singular case. That is why год changes to года.
Why does the sentence start with Ему instead of Он?
The word нужно (needs to / it is necessary) is an impersonal word. In Russian, the person who "needs" or "has to" do something with this word is placed in the Dative case. Therefore, он (he) becomes ему (to him).
Why use the perfective verb продлить instead of the imperfective продлевать?
He needs to successfully complete the action of extending the visa for a specific result, which requires the perfective aspect. You would use the imperfective продлевать if this were a repeated habit (e.g., "he has to extend his visa every single year") or if you were talking about the ongoing process of doing the paperwork.
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