Breakdown of Мы хотим поехать на научную базу, чтобы изучать землю.
мы
we
изучать
to study
хотеть
to want
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
поехать
to go (by transport)
чтобы
in order to
научный
scientific
база
base
земля
earth
Questions & Answers about Мы хотим поехать на научную базу, чтобы изучать землю.
Why do we use поехать instead of just ехать here?
The prefix по- turns the verb of motion ехать into the perfective verb поехать. We use it here because the sentence is about a future plan to make a single, specific trip. If we used the imperfective ехать, it would sound like we want to be in the process of driving there right now.
Since поехать is perfective, why is изучать (to study) imperfective?
Verb aspect is chosen for each action individually! Setting off on the trip is seen as a single, complete event, so we use the perfective поехать. However, studying the land is an ongoing, continuous process that will take time once they arrive, which requires the imperfective изучать.
Why do they go на научную базу instead of в научную базу?
The noun база (base) is one of the location words that traditionally pairs with на (on/at/to) instead of в (in/to), similar to на работу (to work) or на почту (to the post office). Because it is the destination of a verb of motion, the whole phrase научная база goes into the accusative case, becoming на научную базу.
How does чтобы work in this sentence?
чтобы translates to "in order to." When you want to explain the purpose of an action, you use чтобы followed by the infinitive of a verb. Here, it connects the trip to its purpose: going to the base in order to study (чтобы изучать).
Why is the word for "land" spelled землю rather than земля?
It is the direct object of the verb изучать (What are they studying? The land). This means it must be in the accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -я (like земля), the accusative ending becomes -ю.
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