Breakdown of Тебе не стыдно врать? Не может быть, чтобы ты сам это выдумал.
это
this / it is
не
not
ты
you (singular)
быть
to be
мочь
to be able to
чтобы
in order to
сам
oneself (сам, сама, само, сами)
стыдно
ashamed
выдумать
to make up (perf)
врать
to lie
Questions & Answers about Тебе не стыдно врать? Не может быть, чтобы ты сам это выдумал.
Why do we use чтобы here instead of что to say "that you made this up"?
The phrase не может быть (it cannot be) expresses strong doubt or denial. In Russian, when introducing a clause that you are strongly denying or doubting, you use the subjunctive чтобы instead of the indicative что.
Since we use чтобы, does the verb выдумал have to be in the past tense?
Yes. The conjunction чтобы requires the following verb to be in the past tense whenever there is a subject (like ты in this clause). When paired with чтобы, this past tense form acts as the subjunctive mood. It happens to translate to the English past tense here ("made up"), but grammatically, it is the only form allowed.
Why does the first sentence start with тебе instead of ты?
The word стыдно (ashamed) is a "state word" (an impersonal predicate). In Russian, the person experiencing a state or emotion—like being cold, bored, or ashamed—must be in the Dative case. So, ты becomes тебе (literally: "to you is it not shameful?").
Why is the first verb врать (to lie) imperfective, but the second verb выдумал (made up) perfective?
Врать is imperfective because it refers to the general behavior of lying; the speaker is asking about the general concept ("Are you not ashamed to be lying?"). Выдумать, on the other hand, is perfective because it refers to a single, specific, completed result: producing this specific lie.
How does сам work here? Could I use себя instead to mean "yourself"?
No, you cannot use себя here. Сам is an emphatic pronoun meaning "oneself" or "on one's own" (here, "you yourself"), and it acts as a modifier agreeing with the subject ты. Себя is a reflexive pronoun used when the subject is the object of the action (for example, "you see yourself" or "you bought it for yourself").
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