Breakdown of Зелёный сигнал мигает, нам нужно спешить.
зелёный
green
спешить
to hurry
нам
to us
нужно
it is necessary
сигнал
the signal
мигать
to blink
Questions & Answers about Зелёный сигнал мигает, нам нужно спешить.
Since this lesson is about то ..., то ..., could we use it to describe the blinking light?
Yes! Blinking is a perfect example of an alternating action. Instead of using the single verb мигает (is blinking), you could describe it by saying Зелёный сигнал то горит, то гаснет (The green signal is first on, then off).
Why do we use нам instead of мы in the second half of the sentence?
Because нужно (it is necessary) triggers an impersonal construction. In Russian, you don't say 'We need', you say 'To us it is necessary'. The person experiencing the need goes into the dative case, so мы becomes нам.
Why is the imperfective verb спешить used here instead of the perfective поспешить?
After words like нужно or надо, the imperfective aspect is often used to describe a general course of action or state you need to be in. Нам нужно спешить focuses on the ongoing process of hurrying. Поспешить would sound like a sudden, isolated action ('we must make a quick dash').
Can the verb мигает be used for people blinking, or just for electronic signals?
It is used for both! Just like in English, мигать means 'to blink' or 'to flash'. You can use it for a traffic light, a computer cursor, or a person blinking their eyes.
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