Breakdown of Мне нужен точный ответ.
ответ
answer
мне
to me
нужен
needed (нужен, нужна, нужны)
точный
exact, precise
Questions & Answers about Мне нужен точный ответ.
Why is нужен used here instead of a verb for 'to need'?
In Russian, there is no direct verb for 'to need'. Instead, you use a construction that literally translates to 'to me is necessary'. The person who needs something is in the dative case (мне), and the thing that is needed is the grammatical subject in the nominative case.
Since the speaker is the one who needs the answer, shouldn't нужен agree with the speaker's gender?
No, this is a very common trap! Because the literal meaning is 'an answer is necessary to me', the word нужен (which is a short adjective) must agree with the grammatical subject of the sentence. Here, the subject is ответ (answer), which is masculine, so we use the masculine form нужен regardless of who is speaking.
Could I say Мне нужно точный ответ instead?
No, that would be grammatically incorrect. You generally only use the neuter form нужно when you need to do an action, pairing it with an infinitive verb (like мне нужно идти - I need to go). When you need a noun, you must match the gender of that noun: нужен for masculine, нужна for feminine, нужно for neuter, and нужны for plural.
What is the difference between точный and правильный?
Правильный means 'correct' or 'right', while точный means 'exact', 'precise', or 'accurate'. If you ask for a точный ответ, you don't just want a generally correct answer; you want specific, unambiguous details.
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