Question 1

Since this lesson is about defective verbs, what would happen if I swapped спал for a defective verb like победить (to win)?

Accepted Answer

Defective verbs only lack a 1st-person singular form in the present or future tense. Because the conditional mood always uses the past tense (which changes by gender, not person), defective verbs work perfectly here! Just like you say я бы спал, you can absolutely say я бы победил (I would win).

Question 2

Why is штормовой in the instrumental case here rather than the nominative штормовая?

Accepted Answer

When describing what something was like using the past tense of быть (here, была), Russian typically uses the instrumental case for the adjective. This is especially true for temporary states or conditions, like a storm happening on a specific night.

Question 3

Could I change the word order and say я спал бы instead of я бы спал?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can. The particle бы is quite flexible in the main clause and usually follows the subject or the verb. Both я бы спал and я спал бы are grammatically correct and natural. However, in the first clause, бы almost strictly follows Если.

Question 4

Why use the imperfective verb спал instead of a perfective verb like поспал?

Accepted Answer

The imperfective спал emphasizes the ongoing process of the action, matching the English "I would be sleeping." If you used the perfective поспал, it would mean "I would have taken a nap" or "I would have gotten some sleep," focusing on a completed result rather than an ongoing state.

Если бы ночь не была штормовой, я бы спал.

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