Learn Russian: Если бы ты подчинился, ты бы не навредил нам. - If you had obeyed, you would not have harmed us.

Если бы ты подчинился, ты бы не навредил нам.

If you had obeyed, you would not have harmed us.

Breakdown of Если бы ты подчинился, ты бы не навредил нам.

would (conditional particle) / concessive particle

Questions & Answers about Если бы ты подчинился, ты бы не навредил нам.

Why is the word нам in the Dative case?

нам is the Dative form of мы (we/us). This is because the verb навредить (to harm) governs the Dative case. In Russian, verbs of "hindrance" or causing a negative impact often take the Dative without a preposition, as you are conceptually directing that harm towards someone.

If I wanted to say "If you had obeyed me", would I also use the Dative case?

Yes! The verb подчиниться (to obey/submit) also takes the Dative case. You would say: Если бы ты подчинился мне. Verbs expressing submission, communication, or giving in to someone usually require the Dative object.

Why are the verbs подчинился and навредил in the past tense if the English translation uses "had obeyed" and "would have harmed"?

Russian doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English "had done" or "would have done" tenses. Instead, to build a hypothetical or unreal condition, Russian simply pairs the conditional particle бы with the standard past tense of the verb.

Can the second бы be moved, or does it have to come right after ты?

The particle бы is quite flexible but generally cannot start a sentence. It usually prefers to sit right after the subject or the most emphasized word in the clause. So ты бы не навредил нам sounds very natural, but putting it after the verb (ты не навредил бы нам) is also grammatically correct.