Breakdown of Пуговицы никогда не пришиваются так быстро.
не
not
быстро
fast, quickly
никогда
never
так
so, like this
Questions & Answers about Пуговицы никогда не пришиваются так быстро.
Why does the verb пришиваются end in -ся? Does it mean the buttons sew themselves?
This is a great example of a reflexive verb being used to create the passive voice. Since buttons can't literally sew themselves, adding -ся to the imperfective verb пришивать (to sew on) changes the meaning to "are sewn on". This is the standard way to express passive actions with imperfective verbs in Russian.
Why do we use the imperfective verb пришиваются instead of a perfective form?
Two reasons! First, the word никогда (never) tells us this is a general statement about how things usually happen, which requires the imperfective aspect. Second, forming the passive voice using the -ся ending is a grammatical feature of imperfective verbs. Perfective passive verbs usually use a different structure (short-form participles) instead.
Why are there two negative words, никогда and не?
Russian requires a double negative. Whenever you use a negative word like никогда (never), никто (nobody), or ничего (nothing), you must also put не (not) directly in front of the verb. Even though it translates as "never sewn", the Russian literally says "never not sewn".
Could I use такой instead of так to mean "this quickly"?