Breakdown of Государство требует, чтобы вы подписали соглашение.
вы
you (plural)
подписать
to sign
чтобы
in order to
требовать
to demand
государство
the state
соглашение
the agreement
Questions & Answers about Государство требует, чтобы вы подписали соглашение.
Why is подписали in the past tense if the English translation says "you sign"?
This is the core rule for this type of sentence. When you have two different subjects (государство and вы) and one is demanding, asking, or wanting the other to do something, you must link them with чтобы followed by a past-tense verb. Even though подписали is in the past tense, it refers to a future or hypothetical action.
Why can't I just translate "requires you to sign" literally as требует вас подписать?
English uses an infinitive ("to sign") for this, but Russian doesn't when the subjects are different. Verbs expressing commands, requests, or desires (like требовать, просить, хотеть) must use a чтобы clause with a past-tense verb if a new person is performing the action.
Why does требует have a -у- in it instead of the -ова- from its infinitive, требовать?
This is a common verb conjugation pattern to remember. Verbs ending in -овать or -евать drop that suffix and replace it with -у- or -ю- in the present tense. Therefore, требовать becomes он требует rather than "он требовает".
What case is соглашение in here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb подписали (it is what is being signed). Because соглашение is an inanimate neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary (nominative) form.
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