Breakdown of Вчера уже были заморозки, надо обрезать деревья как можно быстрее.
дерево
tree
быстро
fast, quickly
вчера
yesterday
быть
to be
уже
already
надо
must, need to
можно
one may, it is allowed
как
as (in comparisons)
заморозки
first frosts
обрезать
to prune
Questions & Answers about Вчера уже были заморозки, надо обрезать деревья как можно быстрее.
How does как можно быстрее translate to "as quickly as possible"?
The phrase как можно literally translates to "how it is possible". When you follow it with a comparative adverb like быстрее (faster), it maximizes that comparative, creating the meaning "as fast as possible" or "as quickly as possible".
Why is the verb были in the plural if the English translation says "there was frost"?
The Russian word for autumn or spring ground frost, заморозки, is a plural-only noun. Because the subject of the first clause is plural, the past tense verb must also be the plural form были.
Is the verb обрезать perfective or imperfective in this sentence?
It is perfective here, emphasizing that the pruning must be completely finished. This verb is tricky because both aspects are spelled exactly the same. They are distinguished only by spoken stress: the perfective form used here is stressed on the middle syllable (обре́зать), while the imperfective form is stressed on the final syllable (обреза́ть).
Why isn't there a subject like "we" or "you" before надо?
The word надо is an impersonal predicate. While you can specify who needs to do the action by adding a pronoun in the dative case (like нам надо for "we need to"), omitting it makes the necessity general. It simply means "it is necessary to prune the trees" regardless of who exactly does the work.
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