Question 1

Why does the sentence use the past tense был when the English translation says 'be'?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, indirect commands and wishes using чтобы always require the verb to be in the past tense. Even though the director is demanding something right now, the grammar rule for чтобы forces the verb into the past tense form был.

Question 2

The word это is neuter, so why is the verb был masculine?

Accepted Answer

In sentences using это to mean 'this is' or 'that is', the past tense verb был must agree with the noun that follows it, not with это. Because дубль (take) is a masculine noun, the verb takes the masculine form был.

Question 3

Why does требует have a -у- in it when the dictionary form is требовать?

Accepted Answer

This is a great refresher for verbs ending in -овать. In the present tense, that suffix drops out and is replaced by -у- or -ю-. That is why требовать (to demand) becomes он требует (he demands).

Question 4

Why does the adjective последний end in -ий instead of the usual masculine -ый?

Accepted Answer

The word последний (last) is a soft-stem adjective. Because the consonant before the ending is pronounced softly, it takes the soft masculine ending -ий rather than the hard ending -ый you see in words like новый (new).

Режиссёр требует, чтобы это был последний дубль.

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