Не стоит так поступать.

not

Breakdown of Не стоит так поступать.

• так: like that
• стоить: should
• поступать: to act; behave (imperfective)

Questions & Answers about Не стоит так поступать.

Why does стоит mean something like it’s worth / one should here, instead of stands?

In Не стоит так поступать, стоит comes from стоить, which usually means to cost or, in the expression стоит + infinitive, to be worth doing.

So here:

• стоит поступать = it is worth acting / behaving
• не стоит поступать = it is not worth acting / behaving

In real usage, не стоит + infinitive often means more than just not worth it. It can sound like:

• you shouldn’t do that
• it’s better not to do that
• that’s not a good idea

So this is a very common soft way to advise someone against something.

Why is there no subject? Who is supposed to be doing the action?

This is an impersonal construction. Russian often leaves out the subject in sentences like this when the meaning is general.

So Не стоит так поступать literally works like:

• It’s not worth acting like that
• One shouldn’t act like that

The person is understood from context. It could mean:

• you shouldn’t do that
• people shouldn’t do that
• we shouldn’t act like that

Russian does not need a word like it or one here.

Why is поступать in the infinitive?