Breakdown of Директор хочет, чтобы врач спасал пациентов после аварии.
врач
doctor
хотеть
to want
директор
director
пациент
patient
после
after
чтобы
in order to
авария
accident
спасать
to save
Questions & Answers about Директор хочет, чтобы врач спасал пациентов после аварии.
Why is the verb спасал in the past tense when the director wants the doctor to save people in the future?
When you express wanting someone else to do something in Russian, you must use the word чтобы (so that) followed by a past tense verb. The literal translation is closer to 'The director wants so that the doctor saved...' but it expresses a wish for the present or future.
Why use the imperfective verb спасал instead of the perfective спас?
The imperfective спасал is used because the director is talking about a general or ongoing duty (saving patients as a process). If he wanted the doctor to complete a single, specific rescue of a specific group of patients, the perfective спас would be used.
Why does пациентов end in -ов? Isn't that a Genitive case ending?
Yes, it is! However, пациент (patient) is an animate noun (a living being). For plural animate nouns, the Accusative case (which we need here for the direct object of the verb) borrows the exact same endings as the Genitive case.
Why is the word for accident аварии instead of the dictionary form авария?
The preposition после (after) always requires the noun following it to be in the Genitive case. Since авария is a feminine noun ending in -я, its Genitive form changes to end in -и.
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