Question 1

Why use the perfective простояли here instead of the imperfective стояли if it describes an action that lasted for two hours?

Accepted Answer

Normally, stating how long an action took requires an imperfective verb. However, adding the prefix про- to verbs like стоять creates a perfective verb meaning to spend a specific amount of time doing an action. It treats the entire duration as one completed block of time. This type of perfective verb must be accompanied by a specific time expression, like два часа.

Question 2

Does using простояли instead of стояли change the tone of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes. While стояли simply states the ongoing fact that they were standing, простояли emphasizes the duration itself. It often implies that the time spent was noticeably long, tedious, or significant, which makes perfect sense when describing a long wait in a queue.

Question 3

The lesson mentions this verb takes the Accusative of time. Isn't два часа in the Genitive case?

Accepted Answer

It is actually a mix of both! The time phrase as a whole is in the Accusative case to show duration. The number два is in the Accusative, which looks identical to the Nominative. However, Russian number rules force the noun following 2, 3, or 4 into the Genitive singular, which gives us часа.

Question 4

Why do we say в очереди instead of на очереди for standing in a line?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, a physical line or queue is treated as a space you are inside of, so you use the preposition в with the Prepositional case. The phrase на очереди does exist, but it idiomatically means next in turn or up next, rather than physically standing in a queue.

Пассажиры простояли в очереди два часа.

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