Breakdown of Моя сестра много работает, чтобы заработать деньги на отпуск.
сестра
sister
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
много
a lot
работать
to work
деньги
money
отпуск
vacation
чтобы
in order to
заработать
to earn
на
for (a purpose or goal)
Questions & Answers about Моя сестра много работает, чтобы заработать деньги на отпуск.
Why do we use чтобы and an infinitive (заработать) here instead of just the infinitive?
In English, we often just use an infinitive to show purpose, like "works to earn." In Russian, to say "in order to do something" you must use чтобы followed by the infinitive.
Is the comma before чтобы always required?
Yes! Russian punctuation rules are strict about separating clauses. You must always put a comma before a subordinate clause starting with words like чтобы, что, or потому что.
What is the difference between работает and заработать?
Работает is an imperfective verb meaning "works" (an ongoing, habitual action). Заработать is a perfective verb meaning "to earn" (focusing on the successful result). Adding the prefix за- changes the focus from the ongoing process of working to the final result of earning.
Why do we use на отпуск instead of для отпуска for "for a vacation"?
While для usually means "for," Russian uses the preposition на followed by the Accusative case when talking about spending, saving, or earning money for a specific purpose or event.
What case is деньги in this sentence?
It is in the Accusative case because it is the direct object (the thing being earned). Because деньги is an inanimate plural noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its Nominative (dictionary) form.
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