When someone tells you a ridiculous rumor, you often need to express strong doubt or outright denial. In Russian, strongly rejecting a claim or expressing disbelief triggers a special grammatical structure: the subjunctive mood.
Subjunctive of Doubt and Denial
To express disbelief or denial about an event, replace the standard factual conjunction что (that) with чтобы. Because чтобы creates a subjunctive clause, the verb that follows it must be in the past tense.
You will use this construction after strong expressions of disbelief like немыслимо (it's unthinkable) or я не верю (I don't believe). Use it to dismiss a lie (соврать) or an exaggeration (преувеличивать) as complete nonsense (чушь) or absurdity (абсурд).
| It's unthinkable that he lied, that's nonsense! | Немыслимо, чтобы он соврал, это чушь! |
| I don't believe she exaggerated, that's just absurd. | Я не верю, чтобы она преувеличивала, это просто абсурд. |
Questioning Rumors
This same чтобы + past tense structure is used after phrases like не может быть (it can't be) and я сомневаюсь (I doubt). It is the perfect way to question whether someone simply made something up (выдумать).
| It can't be that they made up this absurdity! | Не может быть, чтобы они выдумали этот абсурд! |
| He has no time to lie, so I doubt that he lied to you. | Ему некогда врать, поэтому я сомневаюсь, чтобы он тебе соврал. |
Calling Out Foolishness
To add even more emphasis to your denials, you can dismiss claims as sheer foolishness (глупость) or call them out for being overly (чересчур) strange or dramatic.
| I don't believe that he was saying such nonsense, it's too strange. | Я не верю, чтобы он говорил такие глупости, это чересчур странно. |