Breakdown of Врач сказал, что мне нельзя часто переедать.
я
I
врач
doctor
часто
often
сказать
to tell, to say
что
that (conjunction)
нельзя
one must not
переедать
to overeat
Questions & Answers about Врач сказал, что мне нельзя часто переедать.
How does the prefix пере- work in the verb переедать?
The prefix пере- often indicates that an action was done to excess or too much. When added to a base verb for eating, it creates переедать (to overeat). As a reminder from this lesson, the opposite idea (insufficient action) uses недо-, like in недоедать (to undereat or be undernourished).
What is the perfective form of переедать, and why didn't the speaker use it here?
The perfective form is переесть. We use the imperfective переедать in this sentence because of the adverb часто (often). Words denoting frequent or habitual actions require the imperfective aspect, even when talking about a specific rule from a doctor.
Does нельзя mean 'impossible' or 'must not' here, and how does the verb's aspect affect that?
Here it means 'must not' (it is forbidden or highly unadvisable). When нельзя is paired with an imperfective verb like переедать, it almost always expresses prohibition. If it were paired with a perfective verb, it would mean that the action is physically impossible to complete.
Why is the pronoun мне in the dative case rather than the nominative я?
Нельзя is an impersonal word. In Russian impersonal constructions, there is no active subject doing an action. Instead, the person affected by the rule or state is placed in the dative case. Therefore, я becomes мне.
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