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Questions & Answers about Нужно отпустить прошлое.
What does нужно mean grammatically in this sentence?
Нужно is an impersonal predicative word. In sentences like this, it means something like it is necessary, one must, or it’s needed to.
A key point: it does not change for person or number. Russian is not saying I need or you need directly here. It is more general and impersonal:
- Нужно работать. — It is necessary to work.
- Нужно подождать. — It is necessary to wait.
So in Нужно отпустить прошлое, the idea is general: it is necessary to let go of the past.
Why is there no subject in the sentence?
Because this is an impersonal construction.
English often uses a dummy subject like it in sentences such as It is necessary to... Russian often simply leaves that out:
- Нужно уйти.
- Важно понять.
- Нельзя курить.
There is no real subject like he, she, or it. The sentence just states necessity in a general way.
Why is отпустить in the infinitive instead of being conjugated?