Breakdown of Мы изучаем модальный глагол «надо».
мы
we
изучать
to study
модальный
modal
глагол
the verb
надо
to have to
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Questions & Answers about Мы изучаем модальный глагол «надо».
What is a modal verb in Russian and why is надо classified as one?
A modal verb (модальный глагол) in Russian doesn’t name an action by itself but expresses the speaker’s attitude toward another verb (necessity, possibility, permission, etc.). надо specifically conveys necessity or obligation (“one needs to…”), so it’s grouped with modal verbs.
Why doesn’t надо change its form like regular Russian verbs?
надо is indeclinable and does not conjugate for person, number or gender. It’s an impersonal modal word that remains the same in all contexts.
With which verb form does надо typically appear?
надо is always followed directly by an infinitive (e.g. надо идти, надо купить). It never takes a finite verb or noun as its complement.
Why is модальный глагол надо in the accusative case after изучаем?
The verb изучать requires a direct object in the accusative. Here модальный глагол is masculine inanimate singular, so its accusative form is identical to its nominative form.
Why are there no articles like “the” or “a” before модальный глагол надо?
Russian does not have definite or indefinite articles. Nouns and noun phrases appear without “the” or “a.”
Why is изучаем in the imperfective aspect rather than perfective?
The imperfective aspect (изучаем) describes an ongoing, repeated or habitual process (“we are studying”). Using a perfective like изучим would imply a single, completed action in the future (“we will study (to completion)”).
Can we omit мы in Мы изучаем модальный глагол надо?
Yes. In Russian the subject pronoun is often dropped because the verb ending (-ем) already marks first person plural. You could simply say Изучаем модальный глагол надо.
Where is the stress in надо, and how is it pronounced?
The stress is on the second syllable: [nɐˈdo]. In transliteration it’s “na-DO.”
How does надо differ from нужно when expressing necessity?
Both convey necessity and can often be used interchangeably with a dative pronoun (e.g. мне надо/мне нужно). нужно is slightly more formal or stylistically neutral, while надо feels more colloquial.
Why are Russian quotation marks « » used around надо in the original sentence?
When you mention a word as a word in Russian, you typically enclose it in angular quotation marks «» to show you’re discussing the term itself rather than its meaning in context.