Breakdown of Не надо капризничать и постоянно передумывать.
и
and
не
not
надо
must, need to
постоянно
constantly
капризничать
to act up
передумывать
to change one's mind
Questions & Answers about Не надо капризничать и постоянно передумывать.
Why are the verbs капризничать and передумывать in the imperfective aspect here?
After не надо (and не нужно), you almost always use the imperfective aspect to tell someone not to do something or that an action is unnecessary. It tells them to avoid the general behavior, rather than focusing on the result of a single completed action.
How does the prefix пере- in передумывать work?
The prefix пере- often adds the meaning of "re-doing" an action (similar to the English prefix "re-"). Added to думать (to think), it creates the verb передумывать (to re-think), which is the standard Russian way to say "to change one's mind".
Is капризничать only used when talking about children?
Not at all! While it is very commonly used for kids who are acting up, whining, or throwing a tantrum, you can absolutely use it for adults. When applied to adults, it means acting overly fussy, being unreasonably picky, or making a fuss over nothing (acting "capricious").
How could I use this lesson's то ..., то ... structure to say "You are first acting up, then changing your mind"?
You would drop не надо, add a subject like ты (you), and conjugate the verbs. It would look like this: Ты то капризничаешь, то передумываешь. This perfectly expresses that the person is constantly alternating between these two frustrating behaviors!
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