Breakdown of Кто-то сказал, что будут заморозки, поэтому укрывать сад нужно как можно плотнее.
быть
to be
сказать
to tell, to say
что
that (conjunction)
поэтому
so (therefore)
сад
garden
нужно
it is necessary
можно
one may, it is allowed
кто-то
someone
как
as (in comparisons)
заморозки
first frosts
укрывать
to cover
плотно
tightly
Questions & Answers about Кто-то сказал, что будут заморозки, поэтому укрывать сад нужно как можно плотнее.
The lesson is about как можно with comparative adjectives. Is плотнее an adjective or an adverb here?
It is an adverb! Even though your current lesson focuses on adjectives, the exact same structure works perfectly for comparative adverbs. Here, плотнее (more tightly) describes the verb укрывать (to cover). Combining it with как можно creates the meaning "as tightly as possible".
Why use the plural заморозки and the plural verb будут for "frost"?
When talking about periods of sub-zero weather or a ground freeze (especially in weather forecasts for spring or autumn), Russians typically use the plural form заморозки. Because the noun is plural, the future tense of the verb "to be" must also be the plural будут (literally: "there will be frosts").
Why use the imperfective укрывать instead of the perfective укрыть, since the goal is to get the garden completely covered?
Both aspects are perfectly fine here! Using the perfective укрыть would emphasize the completed result. However, using the imperfective укрывать with нужно is very common when offering general advice or focusing on the action itself. It feels a bit like saying "the process of covering the garden is what needs to happen."
I often see the dative case used with нужно. Why is сад just in its regular dictionary form here?
Сад is actually in the accusative case here, not the nominative. It is the direct object receiving the action of the verb укрывать (to cover what? -> the garden). Because сад is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form. If the sentence specified who needs to do the covering, that person would be in the dative case (for example, вам нужно - you need).
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