Breakdown of Я открыл шкаф, чтобы достать тёплый свитер.
я
I
открыть
to open
чтобы
in order to
шкаф
the wardrobe
Questions & Answers about Я открыл шкаф, чтобы достать тёплый свитер.
Why is открыл masculine? How do I know who is speaking?
In the Russian past tense, verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.
- открыл = masculine singular
- открыла = feminine singular
- открыло = neuter singular
- открыли = plural
So Я открыл tells you the speaker is male. If the speaker were female, it would be Я открыла шкаф...
Why is открыл used instead of открывал?
This is about aspect.
- открыть / открыл = perfective: to open, as a completed action
- открывать / открывал = imperfective: to be opening, to open repeatedly, or to describe the process
In this sentence, the speaker opened the wardrobe/cabinet as one completed action in order to do something next. That makes открыл the natural choice.
So the sentence presents a sequence:
- I opened the wardrobe
- to get the sweater
Why is there a comma before чтобы?
Because чтобы introduces a subordinate clause of purpose.
Russian normally puts a comma before conjunctions like что, чтобы, когда, если when they begin a subordinate clause.