Breakdown of Если бы машин было меньше, мы бы забыли про вредные выбросы!
мы
we
машина
car
быть
to be
вредный
harmful, unhealthy
бы
would (conditional particle) / concessive particle
если
if
меньше
less (quantity or size)
забыть
to forget (perfective)
про
about (colloquial)
выброс
emission
если бы
if (hypothetical)
Questions & Answers about Если бы машин было меньше, мы бы забыли про вредные выбросы!
Why does this sentence use the past tense verbs было and забыли when it is talking about a general or present-day hypothetical situation?
To build an unreal or counterfactual condition (meaning 'If X were to happen... Y would happen'), Russian always uses the particle бы combined with the past tense. Even though we are talking about a hypothetical present, the grammar strictly requires the past tense forms было in the 'if' clause and забыли in the main clause.
Why is the verb было in the neuter singular form, rather than the plural были to match the cars?
Because of the word меньше (fewer/less). Words that express a quantity require the noun that follows to be in the genitive case (машин) and force the verb into the default impersonal form, which is the neuter singular (было).
Could we put the second бы after the verb, saying мы забыли бы?
Yes, мы забыли бы is perfectly correct! The particle бы is flexible, but it naturally gravitates to the second position in a clause, right after the subject or another emphasized word. Putting it right after мы is very typical in everyday Russian.
Why use про here instead of о or об for the word 'about'?
Про is frequently used in conversational Russian as a slightly more casual alternative to о. Note that while о takes the prepositional case, про always takes the accusative case. Here, вредные выбросы is in the accusative plural (which looks identical to the nominative case since these are inanimate nouns).
Learn Если бы машин было меньше, мы бы забыли про вредные выбросы 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