Breakdown of Чтобы доделать отчёт, мы перечитали все старые документы.
мы
we
старый
old
документ
document
отчёт
report
чтобы
in order to
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone (весь, вся, всё, все)
перечитать
to reread
доделать
to finish doing
Questions & Answers about Чтобы доделать отчёт, мы перечитали все старые документы.
How does the prefix до- in доделать change the meaning of the base verb?
The prefix до- adds the meaning of finishing an action or taking it to its final conclusion. While делать means 'to do' or 'to make', доделать specifically means 'to finish doing' or 'to complete' something that was already started, like the report in this sentence.
What exactly does the prefix пере- add to the verb перечитали?
Here, the prefix пере- means re-doing an action. Just as делать becomes переделать ('to redo'), читать ('to read') becomes перечитать ('to reread'). By using the perfective past tense перечитали, the speaker emphasizes that they successfully went back and read the documents all over again.
Why is the infinitive доделать used right after чтобы?
When expressing purpose ('in order to do something'), you use чтобы followed directly by an infinitive verb. Because the people who want to finish the report are the exact same people doing the rereading (мы), you only need the infinitive form rather than a conjugated verb.
Why do отчёт and все старые документы look like they are in the nominative case when they are the direct objects?
They are actually in the accusative case because they receive the action of the verbs. However, for masculine words (отчёт) and plural words (документы) that are inanimate (not alive), the accusative case endings are completely identical to their basic nominative forms. This applies to the adjectives like старые describing them, too.
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