Breakdown of Неужели не стоит отговаривать тех, кто будет сожалеть?
не
not
кто
who / whoever
быть
to be
тот
that
неужели
really / is it possible (expressing surprise or disbelief)
стоит
it is worth (doing)
сожалеть
to regret
отговаривать
to dissuade
Questions & Answers about Неужели не стоит отговаривать тех, кто будет сожалеть?
How does не стоит work in this sentence, and who is the implied subject?
Не стоит is an impersonal expression meaning "it is not worth it" or "one shouldn't." Because it is impersonal, it doesn't take a standard subject in the nominative case. If we wanted to specify who shouldn't do the dissuading, we would put that person in the dative case (e.g., Нам не стоит... for "We shouldn't..."). Here, the dative pronoun is omitted, making it a general statement: "Is it really not worth [anyone's] time to dissuade..."
Why is the imperfective verb отговаривать used after не стоит?
When giving advice not to do something, Russian strongly prefers the imperfective aspect. Negative impersonal modals like не стоит (it's not worth doing), не надо (no need to), and не следует (one shouldn't) are almost always followed by an imperfective infinitive. This rule applies even if you are talking about a single, specific event rather than a repeated action.
Why is the pronoun тех used instead of те in the phrase тех, кто?
Тех is the plural accusative form of the demonstrative pronoun тот (that). It is in the accusative case here because it is the direct object of the verb отговаривать (to dissuade). The sentence literally translates to dissuading those (тех), who (кто) will regret it.
What nuance does the word неужели add to this question?
Неужели is a particle used to express surprise, disbelief, or strong doubt. While asking Не стоит отговаривать...? is a neutral "Is it not worth dissuading...?", adding Неужели turns it into "Is it really not worth dissuading...?" It implies that the speaker is surprised by the idea of not intervening and expects or hopes for reassurance.
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