Breakdown of Режиссёр сказал, чтобы мы смеялись в кадре.
мы
we
в
in / to (direction)
сказать
to tell, to say
смеяться
to laugh
Questions & Answers about Режиссёр сказал, чтобы мы смеялись в кадре.
Why is the past tense verb смеялись used here when the translation says "to laugh"?
This is how Russian forms indirect commands. When you report what someone told someone else to do, you use чтобы followed by a past tense verb. Even though смеялись usually means "laughed", together with чтобы it translates to "to laugh".
Could I just use the infinitive and say сказал нас смеяться like in English?
No, that doesn't work in Russian. English says "told us to laugh", but Russian phrases it as "said so that we would laugh". You have to use чтобы and the past tense rather than a direct infinitive after verbs of communication like сказать.
Why does the verb смеялись end in -сь instead of -ся?
Смеяться (to laugh) is a reflexive verb, which means it has a special particle at the end. In the past tense, if the verb ending has a vowel (like the plural -ли), the particle shortens to -сь. If it ends in a consonant (like the masculine -л), it stays as -ся (e.g., смеялся).
What case is в кадре and what does it mean?
It is in the prepositional case, which is used to show location after the preposition в. The dictionary word is кадр (frame or shot), and the -е ending makes it mean "in the frame" or "on camera".