Breakdown of Мы поехали в лагерь, чтобы ставить палатки.
мы
we
в
in / to (direction)
ставить
to put, stand (upright)
поехать
to go (by transport)
чтобы
in order to
лагерь
camp
палатка
tent
Questions & Answers about Мы поехали в лагерь, чтобы ставить палатки.
Why do we use поехали here instead of ехали or ездили?
Поехали has the prefix по-, which marks the start of a journey or a single, specific trip. Here, it emphasizes that we set off or departed for the camp. Ехали would just mean we were in the process of driving, and ездили would mean a completed round trip where we went there and came back.
Why is the word for camp лагерь not changed to лагере?
After verbs of motion like поехали, we use the preposition в with the Accusative case to show destination. Лагерь is a masculine noun ending in a soft sign, and its Accusative form looks exactly like its dictionary form. If we were already at the camp, we would use the Prepositional case: в лагере.
How does чтобы work in this sentence?
Чтобы translates to 'in order to' when expressing a purpose. When the person doing the action is the same in both parts of the sentence, чтобы is followed directly by an infinitive verb, like ставить here.
Why use the imperfective verb ставить (to set up) instead of the perfective поставить?
Both would make sense, but they have slightly different focuses. Using the imperfective ставить focuses on the process or the activity of setting up tents. If the speaker used the perfective поставить, it would focus on the final result of getting the tents completely set up.
Does ставить always mean 'to set up'?
Ставить literally means to put or to stand something in a vertical position. In Russian, you stand a tent up, which is why it is the standard verb for pitching or setting up a tent.
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