Breakdown of Посол хочет, чтобы делегация уехала.
хотеть
to want
уехать
to leave (by vehicle, pf)
чтобы
in order to
посол
the ambassador
делегация
the delegation
Questions & Answers about Посол хочет, чтобы делегация уехала.
In English, we say "wants the delegation to leave". Why doesn't Russian use the infinitive уехать here?
Because there are two different subjects. If the ambassador wanted to leave himself, you would use the infinitive: Посол хочет уехать (The ambassador wants to leave). But since he wants someone else (the delegation) to do it, Russian requires a brand new clause using чтобы.
The ambassador wants them to leave in the future. Why is уехала in the past tense?
This is a strict grammatical rule. When you use чтобы to express a wish, command, or request for someone else to do something, the verb that follows the new subject must always be in the past tense. Even though the desired departure is in the future, чтобы forces the past tense form.
Why does уехала end in -а?
Because it is grammatically a past tense verb, it must agree with the gender of its subject. Делегация is a feminine noun (ending in -ия), so the verb takes the feminine past tense ending -а.
Why did we use the perfective verb уехала instead of the imperfective уезжала?
The ambassador wants the delegation to perform a single, completed action—leaving once and for all. Perfective verbs are used for specific, completed results. If he used the imperfective, it would imply wanting them to leave repeatedly or to be in the ongoing process of leaving.
Is the comma before чтобы mandatory?
Yes! In English, we often drop commas before words like "that", but in Russian, you must always place a comma to separate the main clause (Посол хочет) from the dependent clause starting with чтобы.
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