Word
Он слишком гордый, чтобы просить помощи.
Meaning
He is too proud to ask for help.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Он слишком гордый, чтобы просить помощи.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
помощь
the help
чтобы
in order to
просить
to ask for, to request
Questions & Answers about Он слишком гордый, чтобы просить помощи.
Why do we use чтобы here instead of just the infinitive like in the English "too proud to ask"?
In Russian, the structure "too [adjective] to [do something]" translates to слишком [adjective], чтобы [infinitive]. You cannot attach the infinitive directly to the adjective like you do in English; you must use чтобы (in order to) to bridge the two ideas: "He is too proud, in order to ask..."
Why use просить and not спросить? Don't they both mean "to ask"?
They do, but they are used differently! Спросить means "to ask a question" or "to inquire" (like asking for the time or someone's name). Просить means "to ask for something" or "to request" (like asking for help, money, or a favor). Since he is requesting help here, we must use просить.
Why is помощи in the genitive case? Doesn't the verb просить take the accusative case?
Просить does take the accusative for specific, concrete objects (like a pen or a book). However, when asking for something abstract—like помощь (help), совет (advice), or внимание (attention)—Russian requires the genitive case. So, помощь becomes помощи.
Could I use the short adjective горд instead of the long form гордый in this sentence?