Questions & Answers about Врач запрещает мне работать.
Why do we use the imperfective verb работать here instead of a perfective verb?
This ties perfectly into your current lesson! Just like negative commands, verbs that express prohibition like запрещать (to forbid) force the following infinitive to be imperfective. The focus is on completely avoiding the action of working.
Why is the word for "me" in the dative case (мне) rather than the accusative (меня)?
The verb запрещать (to forbid) always takes the dative case for the person receiving the prohibition. You can think of the literal translation as the doctor forbidding work to me.
Is запрещает an imperfective or perfective verb?
It is the imperfective form, coming from the infinitive запрещать. It is used here because it describes an ongoing situation where the doctor's rule is currently in effect. Its perfective pair is запретить.
How does this sentence connect to the negative commands we are learning in this lesson?
If the doctor gave you a direct order, they would use the negative imperative: Не работайте! (Do not work!). Both verbs of prohibition like запрещает and direct negative commands share the exact same rule where they require the imperfective aspect to say an action must not happen.
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