Я спешу на работу, чтобы не опаздывать.

I hurry to work so as not to be late.

Breakdown of Я спешу на работу, чтобы не опаздывать.

• я: I
• на: to
• работа: the work
• не: not
• чтобы: in order to
• спешить: to hurry
• опаздывать: to be late

Questions & Answers about Я спешу на работу, чтобы не опаздывать.

What does спешу mean, and what tense/aspect is it?

спешу is the first-person singular, present tense form of the imperfective verb спешить, meaning “to hurry.” Here it means “I am hurrying” (either right now or as a habitual action).

Why is the preposition на used with работу, and what case follows it?

The verb спешить (when meaning “hurry to something”) uses на + the accusative case. So на работу literally means “to work,” with работу in the accusative.

Why is there a comma before чтобы?

чтобы introduces a subordinate clause of purpose (“in order that…”). Russian punctuation requires a comma before most subordinate clauses, so you write:
…работу, чтобы…

What is the function of чтобы in this sentence?

Here чтобы means “in order to” or “so that.” It links the main clause (“I hurry to work”) with the purpose clause (“so that I don’t be late”).

Why is не опаздывать in the infinitive rather than a finite verb form?

In Russian, when expressing purpose with чтобы, you can use either:
– чтобы + subjunctive (e.g. чтобы я не опоздал) for a specific single event
– чтобы + не + infinitive (e.g. чтобы не опаздывать) for a general or habitual outcome.
Here the infinitive form makes the clause more impersonal and general: “in order not to be late” (habitually or in general).

Why is the imperfective infinitive не опаздывать used instead of the perfective не опоздать?

Using the imperfective не опаздывать implies an ongoing or habitual concern about lateness (“so that I won’t be late [in general or repeatedly]”). If you said чтобы не опоздать, you’d emphasize avoiding lateness just this one time.

Could you rephrase the purpose clause with a finite verb? What’s the difference?

You could say: Я спешу на работу, чтобы я не опоздал.
Here опоздал is past-tense, subjunctive mood (marked by бы), focusing on avoiding lateness in this specific instance. The original infinitive version is more neutral and less personal.

Is there any nuance to using спешу vs. тороплюсь here?

Both спешить and торопиться mean “to hurry.” спешить is slightly more direct; торопиться often emphasizes feeling rushed. In practice they’re largely interchangeable in this sentence:
– Я тороплюсь на работу, чтобы не опаздывать.
– Я спешу на работу, чтобы не опаздывать.