Breakdown of Если время застынет, туманный город будет выглядеть, как будто спит.
город
city
время
time
быть
to be
спать
to sleep
если
if
выглядеть
to look, to appear
как будто
as if, as though
туманный
misty
застыть
to freeze
Questions & Answers about Если время застынет, туманный город будет выглядеть, как будто спит.
Why does the sentence use the present tense спит after как будто, while the English translation uses the past subjunctive 'were sleeping'?
In Russian, when using как будто (as if), the tense in the comparison clause simply reflects when the imagined action happens relative to reality. Since the sleeping happens at the same time the city looks that way, we use the present tense спит. Russian does not require a special past-tense subjunctive form here like English does.
Why is застынет in the future tense when the English translation says 'If time freezes' in the present?
In Russian conditional sentences about the future, the future tense is used in both the condition and the result. So, 'If time freezes' translates to the future perfective Если время застынет, unlike English which uses the present tense for the condition half of the sentence.
Why do we have one perfective future (застынет) and one imperfective future (будет выглядеть) in this sentence?
Застынет is perfective because the freezing of time is viewed as a single, completed event that triggers the result. Будет выглядеть is imperfective because looking a certain way is a continuous, ongoing state that follows that event.
Is it grammatically required to include a subject pronoun, such as как будто он спит?
You could include the pronoun он (referring to город), but it is completely natural to drop it here. Because the subject of the main clause (город) is the exact same entity performing the action in the как будто clause, repeating the subject is unnecessary and dropping it makes the sentence flow better.
Learn Если время застынет, туманный город будет выглядеть, как будто спит and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free