Breakdown of Я хочу оформить медицинскую страховку перед поездкой.
я
I
поездка
the trip
перед
before
хотеть
to want
Questions & Answers about Я хочу оформить медицинскую страховку перед поездкой.
Why is it оформить and not something like получить or купить?
All three verbs can be used with страховка, but they have different nuances:
- оформить страховку – to set up / arrange / formalize an insurance policy (fill in forms, sign a contract, complete the paperwork). This is the most standard collocation when talking about insurance.
- купить страховку – literally buy insurance. This is also said in colloquial speech, but it sounds a bit more casual and focuses on paying money.
- получить страховку – usually means to receive insurance (e.g. to receive an insurance policy or compensation), less common for “take out insurance before a trip”.
In this context, оформить медицинскую страховку is the most natural because it focuses on the whole process of officially arranging the insurance.
Why is the verb in the infinitive (оформить) after я хочу? Can I change it?
In Russian, after хотеть (to want), the following verb is normally in the infinitive:
- Я хочу оформить… – I want to arrange…
- Он хочет поехать… – He wants to go…
So я хочу оформить is the regular хотеть + infinitive pattern.
You can’t conjugate оформить here; you can’t say я хочу оформляю or я хочу оформлю. The finite (conjugated) verb is already хочу; the second verb must stay in the infinitive: оформить.