Breakdown of Ты доиграешься до травмы, если не будешь отдыхать.
не
not
ты
you (singular)
отдыхать
to rest
быть
to be
если
if
до
as far as, up to
доиграться
to push one's luck
травма
injury
Questions & Answers about Ты доиграешься до травмы, если не будешь отдыхать.
How exactly does доиграешься translate to push your luck?
This is the core of the до- + -ся structure. When you add both this prefix and postfix to a verb, it often means doing that action to a negative extreme or until a bad consequence happens. Here, the root is играть (to play). So, доиграться literally means to play around until something bad happens, which perfectly matches the English idiom to push your luck.
Why do we need the preposition до before травмы if the verb already has the до- prefix?
It is very common in Russian to echo a verb prefix with a matching preposition to introduce the target or limit of the action. With доиграться, you use the preposition до plus the Genitive case to state exactly what the bad outcome is—in this case, до травмы (up to an injury).
Why does the if-clause use the future tense (будешь отдыхать) instead of the present tense like in English (if you don't rest)?
Russian is strict about time in conditional sentences. Because the consequence (getting injured) and the condition (not resting) are both happening in the future, Russian uses the future tense in both halves of the sentence. English drops back to the present tense after the word if, which can be a tricky habit for English speakers to break.
Why is the imperfective future (будешь отдыхать) used here instead of the perfective future (отдохнёшь)?
The imperfective is used because the speaker is warning about a continuous habit or an ongoing process. They mean if you do not get in the habit of resting or if you do not take time to rest regularly. If they used the perfective, it would sound like failing to take one specific, isolated rest.
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