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Questions & Answers about Здесь нельзя петь.
Why doesn't the Russian sentence have a word for "One" or "must"?
Russian often uses impersonal sentences for rules. The word нельзя carries the whole meaning of "it is not allowed" or "one must not." It works all by itself without needing a subject like "he," "you," or "one."
Is нельзя a modal verb like мочь?
It does a similar job, but it is not a normal verb. While verbs like мочь change depending on who is doing the action, нельзя never changes its shape. You just put it before an infinitive verb.
Why do we use нельзя here instead of a form of не мочь?
нельзя is used when something is forbidden or against the rules. If you used a form of не мочь (like ты не можешь), it would sound more like you lack the physical ability to sing, rather than it being prohibited.
Why does петь end in -ть here?
The ending -ть shows that петь is in the infinitive (dictionary) form, meaning "to sing". We leave it in this basic form because it comes right after a modal word (нельзя).