Breakdown of Нам не нужно будить детей, они спят.
не
not
мы
we
они
they
спать
to sleep
нужно
it is necessary
дети
children
будить
to wake
Questions & Answers about Нам не нужно будить детей, они спят.
Why do we use the imperfective verb будить here instead of the perfective разбудить?
In Russian, after negative expressions of obligation like не нужно (it is not necessary) or не надо (no need), you must use the imperfective infinitive. Even if you are talking about a single, specific event like not waking the children up right now, the negative obligation rule overrides it and forces the imperfective aspect.
Why is the sentence starting with нам instead of мы?
Expressions using нужно (it is necessary) are impersonal. The person who experiences the need is treated as the indirect object and must be put into the Dative case. Нам is the Dative form of мы (we).
Why does the direct object детей look like it is in the Genitive case?
It is actually in the Accusative case because it receives the action of будить. However, because children are living beings (animate), their Accusative plural form perfectly matches their Genitive plural form (детей).
Why is the 'they' form of спать (to sleep) спят rather than 'спают'?
Спать is a tricky verb. Despite ending in -ать, it follows the second conjugation pattern. The -а- disappears in the present tense, giving us forms like я сплю, ты спишь, and они спят.
Learn Нам не нужно будить детей, они спят and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free