Word
Не стоит жаловаться на погоду: лучше надень свитер и иди в парк.
Meaning
It’s not worth complaining about the weather: better put on a sweater and go to the park.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Не стоит жаловаться на погоду: лучше надень свитер и иди в парк.
в
to
парк
the park
и
and
не
not
Questions & Answers about Не стоит жаловаться на погоду: лучше надень свитер и иди в парк.
What does не стоит + infinitive mean here, and why is there no explicit subject?
Не стоит жаловаться is an impersonal, advice-giving construction meaning it’s not worth complaining / you shouldn’t complain. Russian often uses impersonal sentences for general recommendations, so there’s no need for ты/вы or я/мы as a subject.
You could paraphrase it as (Тебе) не стоит жаловаться на погоду. = You shouldn’t complain about the weather.
How is не стоит different from не надо or нельзя?
They’re all “don’t”, but with different shades:
- не стоит = it’s not worth it / you’d better not (soft, advisory, often reason-based)
- не надо = don’t / no need to (more direct, practical)
- нельзя = you mustn’t / it’s forbidden / not allowed (prohibition or impossibility)
So Не стоит жаловаться… sounds like friendly advice, not a rule.
Why is the verb жаловаться reflexive (-ся) and what does it mean?
Жаловаться is a reflexive verb meaning to complain (literally “to make a complaint for oneself”). Many Russian verbs of emotion/behavior are reflexive.
You don’t normally say жаловать with this meaning; жаловаться is the standard verb for “complain”.