Breakdown of Они распространяют дезинформацию, чтобы манипулировать людьми.
они
they
люди
people
чтобы
in order to
распространять
to spread
дезинформация
misinformation
манипулировать
to manipulate
Questions & Answers about Они распространяют дезинформацию, чтобы манипулировать людьми.
Why does манипулировать take the instrumental case (людьми) here?
In Russian, verbs of controlling, managing, or operating often take the instrumental case. You aren't just acting upon a direct object, but rather operating 'with' it. Other common B2-level verbs that follow this pattern include управлять (to manage or drive) and руководить (to lead).
Why is the instrumental form людьми rather than having a standard -ями ending?
Люди (people) has an irregular instrumental plural form. Instead of a standard ending, it takes -ьми. The only other common noun that does this is дети (children), which becomes детьми.
Why is манипулировать in the infinitive after чтобы?
When the subject of the main clause (Они) is the exact same as the implied subject of the purpose clause, you must use the infinitive. If the subjects were different, such as 'They spread misinformation so that we manipulate people', you would use the past tense: чтобы мы манипулировали.
This lesson covers hearsay particles. How would we add якобы to this sentence to express doubt?
You place якобы (allegedly) immediately before the specific claim being doubted. To say they allegedly spread it, use: Они якобы распространяют дезинформацию... If you believe they are spreading it but doubt their true motive is manipulation, you would place it in the second clause: ...чтобы якобы манипулировать людьми.
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