Word
Он никогда не ударяет по шару без того, чтобы не посмотреть на лузу.
Meaning
He never hits the ball without looking at the pocket.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Он никогда не ударяет по шару без того, чтобы не посмотреть на лузу.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
посмотреть
to watch (perfective) / to look at (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Он никогда не ударяет по шару без того, чтобы не посмотреть на лузу.
Why is there a не before посмотреть, since the English translation says "without looking", not "without not looking"?
This is a standard feature of the без того, чтобы не structure. In Russian, this phrase literally translates closer to "without the condition that he doesn't do [X]." Even though it sounds like a double negative to English speakers, that extra не is strictly required to mean "without doing something."
Why do we use the infinitive посмотреть here instead of the past tense?
You use the infinitive because the subject of both actions is the exact same person (он). If a different person were performing the second action, you would have to use the past tense in the чтобы clause instead.
Why does the sentence use по шару (dative) instead of just making the ball a direct object in the accusative?
The verb ударять (to hit or strike) is commonly paired with the preposition по plus the dative case to indicate striking the surface of an object. This is the standard Russian way to describe hitting a ball in sports, carrying the nuance of landing a blow "on" it.
Why is ударяет imperfective but посмотреть perfective?
ударяет is imperfective because it describes a recurring, habitual action (he never hits). However, посмотреть is perfective because for every individual time he hits the ball, the accompanying action of "taking a look" is viewed as a single, completed step that must happen first.