Напёрсток нужен, чтобы штопать.

in order to

Breakdown of Напёрсток нужен, чтобы штопать.

• нужный: necessary
• напёрсток: the thimble
• штопать: to darn

Questions & Answers about Напёрсток нужен, чтобы штопать.

Why is it нужен, not нужно or нужный?

Нужен is the short form of the adjective нужный and it means is needed / is necessary.

It agrees with напёрсток, which is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So:

• напёрсток нужен = the thimble is needed

Compare:

• нож нужен = the knife is needed
• книга нужна = the book is needed
• окно нужно = the window is needed
• деньги нужны = money is needed

The full form нужный usually means needed as a descriptive adjective, like a needed thing, not is needed in this sentence.

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What case is напёрсток in here?

It is in the nominative case because it is the grammatical subject of the sentence.

Structure:

• Напёрсток = subject
• нужен = predicate
• чтобы штопать = purpose clause

So the basic idea is:

• A thimble is needed...
• ...in order to darn.

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