Breakdown of Нельзя проверять чужие телефоны!
телефон
phone
нельзя
one must not
чужой
someone else's
проверять
to check
Questions & Answers about Нельзя проверять чужие телефоны!
Why is the imperfective verb проверять used here instead of the perfective проверить?
When you pair the word нельзя with an imperfective verb like проверять, it expresses a strict prohibition. It means you must not do the action because it is forbidden or against the rules.
What would the sentence mean if we used the perfective verb проверить instead?
If you used the perfective verb, saying нельзя проверить, the meaning of нельзя would change from a rule to a lack of ability. It would mean it is physically impossible to check the phones, perhaps because they are locked, broken, or lost.
The English translation says other people's, but where is the word for people in the Russian sentence?
Russian handles this concept with a single adjective: чужой. It simply means someone else's or not yours. So чужие телефоны naturally translates to other people's phones without needing a separate noun for people.
Why do чужие телефоны look like they are in the nominative (subject) case if they are receiving the action of checking?
They are actually in the accusative (direct object) case! Because a phone is an inanimate object, the accusative plural forms for both the noun (телефоны) and its describing adjective (чужие) are perfectly identical to their basic nominative plural forms.
Learn Нельзя проверять чужие телефоны and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free