Breakdown of Погода была нелётной, и мы просидели в кафе весь вечер.
и
and
мы
we
кафе
cafe
в
in / to (direction)
погода
the weather
быть
to be
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone
вечер
evening
просидеть
to sit (for a specified time)
нелётный
unfit for flying
Questions & Answers about Погода была нелётной, и мы просидели в кафе весь вечер.
Why is просидели used here instead of the imperfective сидели?
The prefix про- in просидели creates a perfective verb that emphasizes spending a specific, continuous span of time doing an action. It works together with the time phrase весь вечер (all evening) to show that the action of sitting filled that exact duration from start to finish. The imperfective сидели would merely state the ongoing fact without focusing on the completion of that block of time.
Why is the time phrase весь вечер in the accusative case?
To state how long an action lasted, Russian uses the accusative case without a preposition. This is called the accusative of time and is naturally paired with duration-focused про- verbs. Because вечер is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as the nominative.
Why is нелётной in the instrumental case instead of the nominative?
With the past tense of the verb to be (была), Russian often uses the instrumental case for adjectives to indicate a temporary state. The weather isn't permanently unfit for flying; it was just a temporary condition that caused you to sit in the cafe.
What exactly does нелётной mean, and how is it used?
The adjective нелётный literally translates to non-flying. It is almost always used in the common set phrase нелётная погода to describe weather conditions that are too bad for planes to take off or land.
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