Questions & Answers about Нам не нужны лишние проблемы, мы хотим отдыхать.
The lesson is about не нужно plus a verb. Why does this sentence use не нужны instead?
When you say you don't need to do something, you use the impersonal не нужно (or не надо) followed by an infinitive. But when you don't need a physical thing or concept, the word acts as an adjective and must agree with the noun you don't need. Since проблемы is plural, it becomes не нужны.
Why does the sentence start with нам (Dative) if it translates to "We"?
In Russian, the construction for needing a noun literally translates to "to someone is necessary". The person who needs the thing goes in the Dative case (нам), while the thing that is needed is the actual grammatical subject in the Nominative case (проблемы).
Could we use the perfective verb отдохнуть instead of the imperfective отдыхать here?
Yes, both are grammatically correct after хотим, but they mean slightly different things. The imperfective отдыхать emphasizes the ongoing process of relaxing or taking a break. The perfective отдохнуть would focus on the result: successfully getting some rest.
Does the word лишние always mean "extra"?
Лишний is a very useful adjective that usually means "superfluous", "unnecessary", or "spare". The phrase лишние проблемы is a common idiom meaning "unnecessary trouble" or "extra problems".