Breakdown of Начальнику сегодня некогда расслабиться.
сегодня
today
начальник
boss
некогда
no time
расслабиться
to relax
Questions & Answers about Начальнику сегодня некогда расслабиться.
Why is the word for boss in the Dative case (начальнику) instead of the Nominative?
This sentence uses an impersonal construction. With predicative negative adverbs like некогда (there is no time), the logical subject (the person who experiences having no time) must always be in the Dative case.
What is the difference between некогда and никогда?
They look similar but have completely different meanings and stress. Некогда (stressed on the first syllable) means 'there is no time' and is used with a Dative subject and an infinitive. Никогда (stressed on the last syllable) means 'never' and is a regular adverb that requires a negated verb, such as он никогда не расслабляется (he never relaxes).
Why do we use the perfective verb расслабиться here instead of the imperfective расслабляться?
We use the perfective because the focus is on achieving a result on a specific occasion (сегодня). The boss doesn't have time to complete the action of getting relaxed today. The imperfective would focus on the ongoing process of relaxing, which doesn't fit the context of trying to fit a specific event into today's schedule.
Why is there a soft sign before the -ся in расслабиться?
Because it is in the infinitive form. A helpful rule is to ask the question 'what to do?' (что сделать?). Since the question word сделать ends with a soft sign, the answer расслабиться needs one too. Remember that despite the spelling, the -ться ending is pronounced exactly like -ца.
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