The three uses of Чтобы

Thread Content

The three uses of «чтобы». The characteristic of such subject-object complex sentences is that the predicate in the main clause can take one of the following forms: (1) neutral adjectives with short endings or participles, such as: нужно, необходимо, желательно, приказано, велено, etc.; (2) reflexive verbs that express subjective thoughts, such as: хотеться, думаться, говориться, казаться, etc. Translation: «чтобы» does not need to be translated; the subordinate clause is expressed using an object-inclusive sentence or a syntactic structure with a double object. For example: 1. It is necessary that you arrive on time (complete the work by the deadline). You need to show up as scheduled and finish the work on time. 2. It is desirable that both teachers and students in the department arrive on time! All teachers and students in the department must be there promptly! 3. I wanted you to finally understand me. I hope that you will be able to understand me in the end. 4. We don’t think it was you who did this. We don’t believe that you would be capable of doing such a thing. (II) Connecting subordinate clauses: The characteristic of these complex sentences is that the predicate in the main clause can only be in the form of a nominal predicate of the type “такой(таков)”; the subordinate clause then explains what exactly “такой(таков)” refers to. When connecting a main clause and a subordinate clause, что must be used for affirmative statements, while чтобы is used for negative ones; it’s important to make this distinction clearly. Translation: чтобы is not translated; subordinate clauses are usually rendered as the modifier “...... of” or expressed in another way. For example: 1. Andrei is not the kind of person to give up at the first difficulty; Andrei is not someone who retreats whenever faced with a challenge. 2. I’m not the kind of person who would deceive or trick you. I’m not someone who would lie to you. 3. The rain isn’t heavy enough to prevent one from going outside; it’s not that intense, so it’s possible to go out. (III) Adjective-like subordinate clauses: The subordinate clauses connected by чтобы have a strong adjective-like character; usually, there is an indicator such as такой before the noun in the main clause that they modify. Translation methods include using modifiers, nominalized structures, subordinate clauses, or coordinated structures. For example: 1. We must build a country in which there is no exploitation of one person by another. We need to create a society where no one exploits others.