Breakdown of Режиссёр хочет, чтобы камера работала.
работать
to work
хотеть
to want
режиссёр
director (film, stage)
чтобы
in order to
Questions & Answers about Режиссёр хочет, чтобы камера работала.
Why is работала in the past tense if the translation says "to work"?
This is the main rule for expressing indirect wishes in Russian! When someone wants someone or something else to do an action, you use чтобы plus the past tense of the verb. Even though the action is happening now or in the future, Russian grammar requires the past tense form here.
Could I just translate "wants the camera to work" literally and use the infinitive, like хочет камеру работать?
No, that does not work in Russian. If the person wanting the action and the person or thing doing the action are different, you must use чтобы + past tense. You only use the infinitive if the subject is the same for both actions, for example: Режиссёр хочет работать (The director wants to work).
Why does работала end in -а?
Because the subject of the second half of the sentence is камера, which is a feminine noun. The verb following чтобы behaves exactly like a normal past tense verb, meaning it must agree in gender and number with its subject.
I remember the verb хотеть (to want) being irregular. How does it conjugate again?