Learn Hardcore Russian: Мой друг взял кредит в банке, чтобы купить новую машину. - My friend took out a loan at the bank to buy a new car.

взять кредит = to take out a loan (from a bank)
Verb: взял is the masculine, past tense, perfective form of взять (to take).
This combination is very common and sounds natural; it does not sound strange or overly literal to Russians.

You might also hear:

оформить кредит – to arrange / formalize a loan
получить кредит – to receive a loan (focus on the result of being approved)

But взять кредит is the default, everyday expression.

What exactly is the difference between кредит, займ / займ, and долг?

All of them involve borrowed money, but they’re used in different ways:

кредит – a loan from a bank or financial institution.
- In this sentence, в банке tells you clearly it’s a bank loan.
- Usually involves a contract, interest, schedule of payments, etc.
займ / заём – a loan in a more general sense, sometimes more formal/legal than кредит, and not always from a bank.
- микрозайм – microloan
- взять деньги в займ – to take money as a loan
долг – a debt (the state of owing something), not the act of making the loan.
- У него большой долг – He has a big debt.
- You don’t normally say взять долг; you say влезть в долги (get into debt).

In this sentence we’re clearly talking about a bank loan for a purchase, so кредит is the natural word.

Why is it в банке and not в банк or из банка or у банка?

Because here в банке expresses location, not direction or source.

в банке – in/at the bank (Prepositional case, singular: банк → в банке)
- He took out the loan at the bank.

Compare:

в банк
- Accusative – into the bank / to the bank (direction)
- Он пошёл в банк. – He went to the bank.
из банка
- Genitive – from the bank (out of, or from as a source)
- Он вышел из банка. – He came out of the bank.
- Он получил письмо из банка. – He received a letter from the bank.
у банка – by/near the bank or from the bank in some contexts
- Он стоит у банка. – He is standing by the bank.
- Взять кредит у банка – to take a loan from a bank (more literal; sounds slightly more formal or written).

In everyday speech, взять кредит в банке is the most common phrasing.

What grammatical form is в банке?

It’s Prepositional case, singular:

Nominative: банк (bank)
Prepositional (after в = in/at): в банке

Use в + Prepositional to talk about being in/at a place:

в школе – at school
в магазине – in/at the shop
в банке – in/at the bank

What does чтобы mean here, and why do we need it with купить?

In this sentence чтобы introduces a purpose clause, like “in order to” or simply “to” in English:

…взял кредит в банке, чтобы купить новую машину.
→ …took out a loan at the bank in order to buy a new car.

Structure:

чтобы + infinitive = in order to do something / so as to do something

We use чтобы here because:

Russian normally marks purpose explicitly with чтобы.
If you just say взял кредит купить машину (without чтобы), it sounds colloquial or incomplete/rough in standard language.

More examples:

Я учу русский, чтобы работать в России.
I’m learning Russian (in order) to work in Russia.
Он пришёл, чтобы поговорить.
He came (in order) to talk.

Why is the verb купить (perfective) and not покупать (imperfective)?

Aspect choice (perfective vs imperfective) is key here.

купить – perfective: to buy (as a single, completed action, result-focused)
- Emphasis on the result: finally obtaining the new car.
покупать – imperfective: to be buying, to buy habitually
- Emphasis on process or repeated/habitual action.

He took one loan to make one purchase (the new car), so Russian prefers the perfective:

…взял кредит…, чтобы купить новую машину.
– He intends to perform one complete act of buying.

If you said:

…чтобы покупать новую машину.
it would suggest he plans to regularly buy new cars (strange in this context).

What case and gender are новую машину, and why do they look like that?

новую машину is Accusative singular, feminine:

машина – a feminine noun (ends in -а in the nominative):
- Nominative: машина (car)
- Accusative: машину (car – as a direct object)
For feminine nouns ending in -а/-я, the Accusative singular usually changes to -у/-ю.
новую – feminine adjective новый (new) in Accusative singular:
- Masculine Nom.: новый
- Feminine Nom.: новая
- Feminine Acc.: новую

The adjective agrees with машину in:

Gender: feminine
Number: singular
Case: accusative

So:

купить что? – новую машину (direct object, Accusative).

Could we move чтобы купить новую машину to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes, that’s possible and grammatically correct:

Чтобы купить новую машину, мой друг взял кредит в банке.

This version:

Sounds a bit more formal or stylistically “written.”
Puts more emphasis on the purpose first: To buy a new car, my friend took out a loan…

Word order in Russian is flexible, but:

You must keep чтобы together with its verb (купить).
The comma is still required between the clauses.

Why is there a comma before чтобы?

Because чтобы купить новую машину is a subordinate clause of purpose, and in Russian, such clauses are normally separated by a comma:

[Main clause], чтобы [subordinate clause of purpose].
Мой друг взял кредит в банке, чтобы купить новую машину.

The pattern:

Main statement: Мой друг взял кредит в банке
Purpose: чтобы купить новую машину

In writing, Russian almost always uses a comma before чтобы when it introduces a clause like this.

Why is it мой друг and not some form with у меня (like у меня друг взял кредит)?

Both structures exist, but they’re used differently:

мой друг – possessive pronoun + noun:
- Straightforward “my friend” as the subject.
- Мой друг взял кредит… – My friend took out a loan…
у меня есть друг – “there is a friend at me” (existence/possession structure):
- Mostly used to introduce the existence of a friend:
  - У меня есть друг, который взял кредит… – I have a friend who took out a loan…

In your sentence, we’re not introducing a new friend; we’re just talking about what my friend did. So мой друг is the natural choice.

Can друг also mean “boyfriend” like friend can sometimes mean in English?

Generally, друг means friend, not necessarily romantic.

мой друг – usually just my (male) friend.
For boyfriend, Russians more often say:
- мой парень – my boyfriend / my guy
- мой молодой человек – literally “my young man,” polite/neutral for “boyfriend”

Context can sometimes make мой друг sound romantic, but by default it’s understood as a (male) friend, not specifically a boyfriend.

Does машина only mean “car,” or can it mean other things?

машина has a broader meaning:

Very often: car – in everyday speech:
- Я купил машину. – I bought a car.
More generally: machine:
- стиральная машина – washing machine
- швейная машина – sewing machine

There is also a more formal word автомобиль (automobile), but машина is the usual everyday word for car. In this sentence, from context (loan, bank, new), машина clearly means car.