Breakdown of Я хочу, чтобы в этой сцене актёры танцевали.
я
I
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
хотеть
to want
в
in / to (direction)
актёр
actor
танцевать
to dance
чтобы
in order to
сцена
scene
Questions & Answers about Я хочу, чтобы в этой сцене актёры танцевали.
Why is танцевали in the past tense if the English translation uses the infinitive 'to dance'?
When you express a wish or a command for someone else to do something, Russian uses чтобы followed by the past tense. Even though the action happens in the present or future, the grammar rule for чтобы always requires this past tense form, like танцевали here.
Why does the sentence use в этой сцене instead of в эта сцена?
Because the preposition в (in) is being used to show location, it requires the Prepositional case. The feminine noun сцена changes its ending to -е to become сцене, and the matching word for 'this' (эта) changes to этой.
Is it wrong to change the word order to чтобы актёры танцевали в этой сцене?
Not at all! Russian word order is very flexible. Moving в этой сцене to the front of that clause just puts a little more emphasis on the location ('in this scene, I want them to dance').
Is the comma before чтобы mandatory?
Yes. In Russian, you must always use a comma to separate two halves of a complex sentence when each half has its own subject and verb. Here, the comma separates Я хочу (I want) from the clause about the actors.
Learn Я хочу, чтобы в этой сцене актёры танцевали and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free