Breakdown of Не надо менять эту привычку.
не
not
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
надо
must, need to
менять
to change, to exchange
привычка
habit
Questions & Answers about Не надо менять эту привычку.
Why do we use the imperfective verb менять here instead of the perfective поменять?
After не надо (it is not necessary / one shouldn't), Russian strongly prefers the imperfective infinitive to express that an action shouldn't happen at all. If the sentence were positive (You need to change), you would generally use the perfective поменять to focus on a single, completed result.
How would I add 'In my opinion' to this sentence using the current lesson's grammar?
You can add the adverb по-моему to the sentence. For example: По-моему, не надо менять эту привычку. Notice that по-моему is written with a hyphen and is usually set off by a comma.
Where is the word 'you' in the Russian sentence?
It is implied by the context. Не надо is an impersonal expression that literally means 'it is not necessary.' If you wanted to specifically single someone out, you would put the pronoun in the dative case: Тебе не надо... (informal) or Вам не надо... (formal/plural).
Why does the phrase эта привычка (this habit) change to эту привычку?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb менять (to change). For feminine words, the -а ending changes to -у, and the matching word эта must also change to эту.
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