Breakdown of У нас мало времени, чтобы поехать в этот регион.
мы
we
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
в
in / to (direction)
у
at, by
время
time
мало
little
поехать
to go (by transport)
чтобы
in order to
регион
region
Questions & Answers about У нас мало времени, чтобы поехать в этот регион.
Why do we use поехать here instead of just ехать or пойти?
The prefix по- added to ехать (to go by transport) creates the perfective verb поехать. It is used here because we are talking about a potential plan to make a single, completed trip, not the ongoing process of travelling. We use a transport verb rather than a walking verb (пойти) because a region is a large, distant destination!
Why is the word for time spelled времени here instead of время?
The word мало (little or not enough) requires the following noun to be in the genitive case to express quantity. The word время is a special neuter noun that ends in -мя, and its genitive form changes unusually to времени.
Why do we need чтобы before the verb?
While English just says "time to go", Russian uses чтобы (in order to) to introduce the specific purpose of the main clause. You use чтобы plus the infinitive verb (поехать) to show exactly what that limited time is meant for.
Why is it в этот регион instead of using the prepositional case?
Because поехать expresses motion toward a destination. When showing direction (going to a place), Russian uses в or на with the accusative case. Since регион is a masculine, non-living noun, its accusative form looks exactly like its basic dictionary form.
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