Question 1

Why does в течение end in -е? Shouldn't it end in -и if it's a noun in the prepositional case?

Accepted Answer

When used as a compound preposition meaning "during," в течение is a fixed phrase that always ends in -е. You only use the -и ending (в течении) when referring to the literal physical "current" or "flow" of a river or liquid.

Question 2

What case follows в течение, and how is it shown here?

Accepted Answer

В течение always takes the genitive case. That is why the neuter noun плавание (voyage) and its modifying pronoun всё (all/entire) become всего плавания.

Question 3

Could I use во время instead of в течение in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, во время всего плавания is perfectly correct. However, в течение is often preferred when you want to emphasize the continuous, unbroken duration of a timeframe from beginning to end, rather than just saying something happened at some point during an event.

Question 4

Why is the imperfective verb видели used here instead of the perfective увидели?

Accepted Answer

Because в течение describes an ongoing block of time, it pairs naturally with the imperfective aspect to show a continuous state. For the entire duration of the voyage, the state of "not seeing land" was constant.

Question 5

Since the verb is negated (не видели), shouldn't землю be in the genitive case (земли)?

Accepted Answer

It can be! Не видели земли (genitive of negation) is completely correct and very natural. However, in modern Russian, the accusative case (землю) is also widely accepted after negated verbs, especially when the object is a concrete, specific noun rather than an abstract concept.

В течение всего плавания матросы не видели землю.

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