Let's head to the billiards table (бильярд) where the balls (шар) lie on green baize (сукно).
| Billiards is a game where balls lie on green baize. | Бильярд — это игра, где шары лежат на зелёном сукне. |
A player needs a cue (кий) to make a precise stroke (удар).
| The player takes the cue to make a precise stroke. | Игрок берёт кий, чтобы сделать точный удар. |
Negative Accompanying Action: Same Subject
To express that one action never happens without another accompanying it, use the construction без того, чтобы не.
Literally translating to "without that, so that not...", this double negative highlights an inevitable second action. When the same subject performs both actions, the verb following не is in the Infinitive.
| You cannot play billiards without calculating the angle. | Нельзя играть в бильярд без того, чтобы не рассчитать угол. |
| He never hits the ball without looking at the pocket. | Он никогда не ударяет по шару без того, чтобы не посмотреть на лузу. |
You can use perfective or imperfective infinitives in this construction. In the next example, the ball performs both actions (falling and bouncing off, отскочить), so we continue to use the infinitive:
| The ball won't fall into the pocket without bouncing off the board. | Шар не упадёт в лузу без того, чтобы не отскочить от борта. |
Different Subjects: Using the Past Tense
As with standard чтобы clauses, if the two actions have different subjects, the verb in the subordinate clause must take the Past tense (regardless of when the action actually occurs in real time).
| Not a single stroke passed without the ball bouncing off the board. | Ни один удар не проходил без того, чтобы шар не отскакивал от борта. |
Here, the subject of the main clause is the stroke (удар), but the subject of the subordinate clause is the ball (шар). Because the subjects differ, отскакивать takes the past tense form отскакивал.