Learn Hardcore Russian: В кино‑клуб мы приглашаем нового гостя, если нам нужна другая точка зрения. - We invite a new guest to the film club if we need a different point of view.

в + accusative = into, to, motion toward a place
- Мы идём в школу. – We are going to school.
- Мы приглашаем его в кино‑клуб. – We invite him to the film club.
в + prepositional = in, at, location
- Мы в школе. – We are at school.
- Мы в кино‑клубе. – We are in/at the film club.

In your sentence there is movement toward a place (we invite someone to the club), so в кино‑клуб (accusative) is correct. Using в кино‑клубе would mean “in the film club” (location), which does not fit the verb приглашаем here.

Why is it нового гостя and not новый гость?

Because нового гостя is in the accusative case, and гость is an animate masculine noun.

The verb приглашать takes a direct object in the accusative: приглашать кого? что?
- We are inviting whom? – нового гостя.
For masculine animate nouns, the accusative singular form = genitive singular form:
- nominative: новый гость
- genitive: нового гостя
- accusative: нового гостя (same as genitive because it’s animate)

Compare with an inanimate noun:

nominative: новый стол (a new table)
accusative: новый стол (same as nominative, not нового стола)

So нового гостя is simply the correct accusative form for an animate noun after приглашаем.

What is the role of нам in если нам нужна другая точка зрения? Why is it dative?

Нам is dative plural (to us) and is required by the construction with нужен / нужна / нужно / нужны.

Russian expresses “to need” literally as “to someone something is necessary”:

Кому? (dative) + нужен/нужна/нужно/нужны
- что? (nominative)
  - Мне нужен совет. – I need advice. (Literally: To me, advice is needed.)
  - Тебе нужна помощь. – You need help. (To you, help is needed.)
  - Нам нужна другая точка зрения. – We need another point of view.
    (To us, another point of view is needed.)

So нам is in the dative because that is the standard pattern: кому нужна? – нам нужна.

Why is it нужна and not нужен or нужно?

The form of нужен / нужна / нужно / нужны agrees in gender and number with the thing needed, not with the person who needs it.

In нам нужна другая точка зрения:

The “thing needed” is другая точка зрения.
The grammatical subject is точка (feminine, singular).
Therefore we use the feminine singular form нужна.

Compare:

Мне нужен телефон. – I need a phone. (телефон is masculine → нужен)
Ей нужна вода. – She needs water. (вода is feminine → нужна)
Им нужно время. – They need time. (время is neuter → нужно)
Нам нужны деньги. – We need money. (деньги is plural → нужны)

So нужна is chosen because точка (зрения) is feminine singular.

Why is there a comma before если?

Russian uses a comma to separate the main clause from a subordinate clause introduced by conjunctions like если (if).

Main clause: В кино‑клуб мы приглашаем нового гостя
Subordinate conditional clause: если нам нужна другая точка зрения

They must be divided by a comma:

В кино‑клуб мы приглашаем нового гостя, если нам нужна другая точка зрения.

If you reverse the order, you still need a comma:

Если нам нужна другая точка зрения, в кино‑клуб мы приглашаем нового гостя.

This is different from English, which sometimes omits the comma when the “if”-clause comes second; in Russian the comma is obligatory.

Why do we use приглашаем (present tense) and not пригласим (future tense)?

In this sentence, the present tense приглашаем expresses a general, habitual action:

В кино‑клуб мы приглашаем нового гостя, если нам нужна другая точка зрения.
→ Whenever we need another point of view, we (usually) invite a new guest.

Russian often uses the present imperfective for:

habitual actions,
general rules,
repeated behavior.

Пригласим (future, perfective) would describe a single, specific future action:

В кино‑клуб мы пригласим нового гостя, если нам нужна будет другая точка зрения.
→ We will invite a new guest (that one time) if we need another point of view.

Your sentence talks about what you normally do in that situation, not about one single future event, so приглашаем is natural.

Could we say Мы приглашаем нового гостя в кино‑клуб, если нам нужна другая точка зрения instead? What changes?

Yes, that word order is also grammatically correct:

Мы приглашаем нового гостя в кино‑клуб, если нам нужна другая точка зрения.

The difference is mainly in emphasis:

Original: В кино‑клуб мы приглашаем нового гостя, если…
– Puts в кино‑клуб (the place) in a prominent, “topic” position. It feels like:
“As for the film club, we invite a new guest there if…”
Alternative: Мы приглашаем нового гостя в кино‑клуб, если…
– More neutral, straightforward order: subject – verb – object – destination.
– Emphasis is more on мы and the action of inviting, less on the place.

Both are correct; Russian allows flexible word order for nuance. The original just foregrounds в кино‑клуб a bit more.

Can we drop мы and just say В кино‑клуб приглашаем нового гостя, если нам нужна другая точка зрения?

Yes, that is possible and natural in context:

В кино‑клуб приглашаем нового гостя, если нам нужна другая точка зрения.

In Russian, the personal pronoun (я, ты, мы, вы, он…) is often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number:

приглашаем → clearly мы (we).

Including мы adds a bit of emphasis or clarity:

With мы: stressing that it is we (our group, our club) who do this.
Without мы: stylistically a bit more compact and neutral; context must make it clear who “we” are.

Both forms are grammatically correct.

What is the difference between другая точка зрения and другое мнение?

Both can translate as another opinion or a different point of view, but there is a nuance:

другая точка зрения
- Literally: another point of view / another viewpoint.
- Focuses on a perspective, angle, way of looking at something.
- Often used in discussions, debates, analytical contexts.
другое мнение
- Literally: another opinion.
- More general; focuses on the judgment or stance itself, not the “angle”.
- Can sound a bit more everyday and less “formal-discussion-like”.

In a context like a кино‑клуб, where people discuss films from different perspectives, другая точка зрения sounds especially natural. Другое мнение would also be correct, just slightly different in tone.

What exactly is кино‑клуб, and why is it written with a hyphen?

Кино‑клуб is a compound noun:

кино – cinema / film
клуб – club

So кино‑клуб is a film club: a group or organization where people watch and/or discuss films, not the building of a movie theater (кинотеатр).

The hyphen is used because Russian often writes certain compound nouns with a hyphen, especially when:

the first part is a shortened/stem form like кино‑, спорт‑, пресс‑, веб‑ etc.
- спорт‑зал – gym
- пресс‑центр – press center
- кино‑клуб – film club

So the hyphen is just standard spelling for this kind of compound word.

Could we use когда instead of если here? What would change: …когда нам нужна другая точка зрения?

You can say:

В кино‑клуб мы приглашаем нового гостя, когда нам нужна другая точка зрения.

The nuance:

если – if, introduces a condition; it may or may not happen.
- Feels like: If we happen to need another point of view, then we invite a guest.
когда – when, refers more to time / situations that actually occur.
- Feels like: Whenever we need another point of view (and this does happen), we invite a guest.

In many habitual-sentence contexts, если and когда can both work and be translated as when(ever), but:

если emphasizes the conditional side,
когда emphasizes the time/situation side.

In your original sentence, если fits nicely because you are describing a rule that applies under a certain condition.