Breakdown of Тебе следует выплакаться, чтобы не чувствовать себя подавленным.
не
not
тебе
to you (informal)
чтобы
in order to
следовать
to follow
чувствовать себя
to feel (well, unwell)
выплакаться
to have a good cry
подавленный
depressed
Questions & Answers about Тебе следует выплакаться, чтобы не чувствовать себя подавленным.
How does the вы-...-ся pattern change the basic verb плакать here?
It turns плакать (to cry) into the perfective verb выплакаться. This combination of the вы- prefix and -ся suffix creates a saturative meaning: doing an action to its absolute limit until you are exhausted or satisfied. Here, it means to cry it all out or to cry until you have no tears left.
Why is the adjective подавленным in the instrumental case?
It describes the state of the subject and acts as a complement to the verb phrase чувствовать себя (to feel). In Russian, when you describe the condition someone is in using verbs of feeling, seeming, or becoming, that descriptive adjective takes the instrumental case.
Since the first clause is impersonal (тебе следует), why does чтобы take the infinitive (чувствовать) instead of the past tense?
You use the infinitive with чтобы when the actor of the main clause and the purpose clause is the exact same. Even though the first clause puts the pronoun in the dative case (тебе), you are still the logical subject of the entire sentence. Because the same person is doing the crying and avoiding the feeling, the infinitive is required.
Why does следует take the perfective verb выплакаться rather than an imperfective one?
Следует means ought to or should. When paired with a perfective verb like выплакаться, it functions as advice to complete one specific action. The speaker isn't telling them to make a habit of crying, but to achieve the specific result of getting all their tears out right now.
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