Нужно сверить показания счётчика.

necessary

Breakdown of Нужно сверить показания счётчика.

• показания счётчика: the meter reading
• сверить: to cross-check

Questions & Answers about Нужно сверить показания счётчика.

Why doesn’t the sentence have a subject like I, we, or someone?

Russian often uses impersonal sentences when the person responsible is unknown, obvious, or not important.

Here, Нужно means it is necessary or it needs to be done, so the sentence does not need an explicit subject.

• Нужно сверить показания счётчика. = It’s necessary to check/verify the meter readings.

If you want to say who needs to do it, you can add a dative pronoun or noun:

• Мне нужно сверить показания счётчика. = I need to check the meter readings.
• Нам нужно сверить показания счётчика. = We need to check the meter readings.

Why is нужно used here? Is it different from надо?

Нужно and надо are very close in meaning, and in many situations either one would work.

• Нужно сверить показания счётчика.
• Надо сверить показания счётчика.

Both mean roughly it is necessary / one should.

A rough nuance:

• нужно can sound a little more neutral or matter-of-fact
• надо can sound a little more conversational or slightly stronger

But the difference is small, and learners should treat them as near-synonyms in many everyday contexts.

Why is the verb , not ?