Breakdown of Нам пришлось дождаться автобуса.
автобус
the bus
нам
us
приходиться
to have to
дождаться
to wait until; wait for successfully
Questions & Answers about Нам пришлось дождаться автобуса.
Why is нам in the dative case?
Because this sentence uses an impersonal construction with прийтись.
With прийтись / приходиться meaning to have to, the person affected is normally put in the dative:
- мне пришлось = I had to
- тебе пришлось = you had to
- нам пришлось = we had to
So нам does not mean to us literally here in normal English style; it marks the people who were forced by circumstances to do something.
What exactly does пришлось mean here?
Пришлось is the past tense of прийтись in the meaning to have to / to be forced to / to end up having to.
So:
- Нам пришлось... = We had to...
It often suggests that the situation made it necessary, not that someone simply chose it.
That is an important nuance:
- Нам пришлось дождаться автобуса = circumstances made us wait until the bus came
- it can sound a bit like we had no choice
Why is пришлось neuter singular, even though the sentence means we had to?