Breakdown of Здесь надо подписывать каждую страницу.
здесь
here
каждый
every
страница
page
надо
must, need to
подписывать
to sign
Questions & Answers about Здесь надо подписывать каждую страницу.
How could we express this same idea using a short-form past passive participle?
You would make 'every page' the subject: Каждая страница должна быть подписана (Every page must be signed). Here, подписана is the feminine short-form past passive participle. The original sentence instead uses an active, impersonal structure (надо + infinitive).
Why do we use the imperfective verb подписывать instead of the perfective подписать here?
We use the imperfective подписывать because this is a general rule and a repeated action (signing multiple pages one after another). If you were told to sign a single document right now as a one-time completed action, you would use the perfective подписать.
Why is it каждую страницу rather than каждая страница?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb подписывать (to sign). For feminine singular nouns and adjectives, the ending changes from -ая -а (каждая страница) to -ую -у (каждую страницу).
There is no word for 'you' in the Russian sentence. How does it translate to 'You have to'?
Надо is an impersonal word meaning 'it is necessary'. Because it is used here without a specific dative pronoun (like вам надо for 'you need'), it acts as a broad rule that applies to anyone. In English, we often use the general 'you' or 'one' to express this.
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