Breakdown of Немыслимо, чтобы ситуация становилась всё хуже, это абсурд!
это
this / it is
чтобы
in order to
хуже
worse
ситуация
situation
становиться
to become (imperfective)
всё
increasingly / more and more
немыслимо
unthinkable
абсурд
absurdity
Questions & Answers about Немыслимо, чтобы ситуация становилась всё хуже, это абсурд!
Why do we use чтобы and the past tense verb становилась here instead of что?
The word немыслимо expresses extreme doubt or denial. When the main clause denies a fact or states that something is impossible, the subordinate clause uses чтобы plus a past tense verb to create the subjunctive mood. It frames the worsening situation as a hypothetical or impossible idea rather than an established fact.
If I used что instead of чтобы, would the sentence still make sense?
Yes, but the meaning shifts entirely. If you say Немыслимо, что ситуация становится..., you are accepting that the situation is actually getting worse, and you are just expressing your shock at this reality. Using чтобы means you reject the very premise and refuse to believe the worsening situation is real.
Why does the English translation say 'worse and worse' when the Russian only says всё хуже?
When the word всё is placed directly in front of a comparative adjective or adverb like хуже (worse), it acts as an intensifier meaning 'increasingly' or 'more and more'. You will see this highly common pattern often, such as всё лучше (better and better) or всё больше (more and more).
Why is the verb становилась in the imperfective aspect?
The imperfective aspect is used because the phrase всё хуже describes an ongoing, continuous decline. The situation was not a single completed event; it was a process of constantly getting worse over time, which requires the imperfective.
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