Нужно смазать петлю, чтобы дверь не скрипела.

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Breakdown of Нужно смазать петлю, чтобы дверь не скрипела.

• не: not
• чтобы: in order to
• нужно: to need

Questions & Answers about Нужно смазать петлю, чтобы дверь не скрипела.

What does нужно mean here, and why is there no subject like I or you?

Нужно is an impersonal word meaning it is necessary, it’s needed, or one needs to.

So Нужно смазать петлю literally means something like It is necessary to lubricate the hinge.

Russian often leaves out a general subject when English would use you, we, or someone in a vague way. The sentence is not saying exactly who must do it; it just states that the action is necessary.

You could make it more specific, for example:

• Мне нужно смазать петлю = I need to lubricate the hinge
• Тебе нужно смазать петлю = You need to lubricate the hinge

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Why is the verb смазать in the infinitive?

Because нужно is commonly followed by an infinitive in Russian.

The structure is:

• нужно + infinitive = need to / it is necessary to ...

So:

• Нужно смазать = need to lubricate

This is a very common pattern:

• Нужно идти = We need to go / It’s necessary to go
• Нужно подождать = We need to wait

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Why is it , not ?