Breakdown of Если бы директор не забыл отправить файл, мы бы сумели достичь успеха.
не
not
мы
we
директор
director
отправить
to send (perfective)
бы
would (conditional particle) / concessive particle
если
if
успех
success
забыть
to forget (perfective)
файл
the file
суметь
to manage (to be able to)
достичь
to achieve (perfective)
если бы
if (hypothetical)
Questions & Answers about Если бы директор не забыл отправить файл, мы бы сумели достичь успеха.
Why do we use the perfective infinitive отправить after забыл instead of the imperfective?
Verbs of forgetting like забыть focus on the failure to complete a specific, one-time action. When you forget to do a single task, Russian requires the perfective infinitive for that task. Here, the director forgot the specific action of sending the file, so we use the perfective отправить.
Why is достичь perfective here, and why does it follow сумели?
Суметь means to manage or succeed in doing something. Verbs of success and achievement always take a perfective infinitive because they inherently focus on the successful completion of an action. Since we are talking about successfully completing the goal, достичь must be perfective.
Why is успеха in the genitive case here instead of the accusative?
The verb достигать or достичь (to reach, to achieve) demands that its object be in the genitive case. When you are reaching for or attaining a goal, Russian grammar requires the genitive, so the dictionary word успех becomes успеха.
In the second half of the sentence, does the conditional particle бы have to come right after мы?
The particle бы is quite flexible, but it naturally attaches to the word it emphasizes or acts as a structural anchor, which is usually the subject or a conjunction. Placing it right after the pronoun мы is the most common and natural word order for this type of clause.
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