Breakdown of Нельзя спать на работе.
работа
work, job
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
спать
to sleep
нельзя
one must not
Questions & Answers about Нельзя спать на работе.
Why do we use нельзя instead of a form of мочь (to be able to)?
Нельзя is a special word meaning 'it is forbidden' or 'one must not'. While мочь changes depending on who is doing the action (like 'I cannot' or 'he cannot'), нельзя never changes. You use it to talk about general rules or things that are not allowed for anyone at all.
Why is спать in its dictionary form (infinitive)?
After modal words like нельзя (must not), мочь (can), or хотеть (to want), the second verb is always in the infinitive form. Since нельзя acts as the modal word setting the rule here, спать just stays in its dictionary form.
Where is the word for 'one' or 'you' in the Russian sentence?
Russian often drops the subject entirely when talking about a general rule. Sentences starting with нельзя or можно (it is allowed) are impersonal. They describe the situation itself, so you do not need a word for 'one', 'you', or 'people'.
Why is it на работе and not в работе?
In Russian, when talking about being at an event, an activity, or a process (like work, a concert, or a lesson), you use the preposition на instead of в. The word работа (work) changes its ending to -е because it is in the Prepositional case, which answers the question 'where?'.
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