Breakdown of Мы же сутками пытались починить машину!
мы
we
машина
car
сутки
twenty-four hours, a full day
пытаться
to try, to attempt
починить
to fix
же
particle (same / exactly) / but / you know (emphasis)
Questions & Answers about Мы же сутками пытались починить машину!
How does сутками work here, and what exactly does it mean compared to just saying днями?
сутками is the Instrumental plural of сутки (a 24-hour period). As covered in this lesson, using a time noun in the bare Instrumental plural expresses an extended, uninterrupted duration. Here, it means 'for days on end' or 'day and night'. While днями means 'for days', сутками emphasizes that the effort took up the whole 24-hour cycle, meaning they were working practically non-stop.
Why is же used here, and how does it translate to 'But' in the English version?
The particle же is used for emphasis, often to express emotion, contradiction, or to remind the listener of an obvious fact. Here, it adds a tone of frustration or defense, like saying 'Come on, we spent days...' or 'But we tried...' It doesn't literally mean 'but' (which is usually но or а), but it conveys that same contrasting emotional punch in this context.
Why do we use the imperfective пытались but the perfective починить?
пытались (tried) is imperfective because the act of trying was an ongoing, extended process, which is reinforced by the duration word сутками. починить (to fix) is perfective because it represents the successful end result they wanted to achieve. When you talk about trying to complete a specific action, you typically pair an imperfective 'trying' verb with a perfective infinitive.
Could we express this duration using a preposition, like за сутки?
Not for this meaning. If you said за сутки, it would mean 'in one day' (the time it takes to reach a completed result). The bare Instrumental plural сутками specifically conveys 'for days on end' without a set limit, perfectly matching the continuous, unresolved effort.
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