Breakdown of Детектив приехал в банк, чтобы выяснить, что случилось.
что
what
в
in / to (direction)
банк
bank
случиться
to happen
приехать
to arrive (by transport, pf)
чтобы
in order to
детектив
detective
выяснить
to find out
Questions & Answers about Детектив приехал в банк, чтобы выяснить, что случилось.
Why are there two similar words, чтобы and что, in the same sentence?
They do different jobs! Чтобы means "in order to" and connects the first action to its purpose: he arrived in order to find out. The second word is just что (what). It introduces the indirect question: he wanted to find out what happened.
In English we don't put a comma before "what happened". Why is there a comma before что?
In Russian, you must always put a comma before a subordinate clause. Because что случилось is an indirect question with its own subject (что) and verb (случилось), a comma is strictly required to separate it from the first part of the sentence.
Why is it в банк and not в банке?
Because the detective is moving to a destination. With verbs of motion like приехать (to arrive), you use в plus the Accusative case to show the direction of movement (в банк). You only use the Prepositional case (в банке) to describe where something or someone is already located.
Why does the verb случилось end in -ось?
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