Breakdown of Не стоит подписывать договор, прежде чем проверить все условия.
не
not
проверить
to check
весь
all
прежде чем
before
Questions & Answers about Не стоит подписывать договор, прежде чем проверить все условия.
Why does the sentence start with Не стоит? What does this construction do grammatically?
Не стоит + infinitive is an impersonal (no explicit subject) way to give advice or a recommendation. Literally it’s like It’s not worth… / One shouldn’t…
Grammatically:
- стоит is 3rd person singular of стоить (to be worth / to cost), used impersonally.
- The action you’re advising against is expressed by an infinitive: подписывать.
Why is it подписывать (imperfective) and not подписать (perfective)?
Both are possible, but they emphasize slightly different things:
- Не стоит подписывать договор… (imperfective) = general advice about the process/idea of signing (as a rule, don’t go ahead with signing under these conditions).
- Не стоит подписать договор… is much less natural; after не стоит Russian strongly prefers the imperfective infinitive for “don’t do it / it’s not advisable.”
If you want a more direct “don’t sign (this specific one)” instruction, you might use:
- Не подписывай(те) договор… (imperative)
- Не надо подписывать договор… (also common)
Why is договор in the form договор, not договора or something else?