Важно иметь запасной вариант.

important

Breakdown of Важно иметь запасной вариант.

• вариант: the option
• запасной: fallback
• иметь: to have; possess

Questions & Answers about Важно иметь запасной вариант.

Why is there no subject in Важно иметь запасной вариант?

Russian often uses impersonal sentences when talking about what is generally necessary, possible, difficult, important, and so on.

Here, важно means it is important, even though Russian does not need to say it.

So:

• Важно = It is important
• Важно иметь... = It is important to have...

This is very natural in Russian.

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Why is важно written like that, and not важный or важная?

Because важно here is not an adjective describing a noun directly. It is a predicative adverb/state word, used in impersonal constructions.

Compare:

• важный вопрос = an important question
  
  • here важный agrees with вопрос
• Это важно = This is important
• Важно иметь... = It is important to have...

So важно is the correct form when you mean it is important in a general sense.

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Why is иметь in the infinitive?