306–308 Conditional, Subjunctive 335

Без ЛAбы (= :сли бы не ЛAба), я бы не получл в$сшего

образовния (Rybakov)
Had it not been for Lyuba I would not have received a higher
education

307 Use of the particle ,s to express desire

(1) The past tense + бы can be used to express desire on the part of the
subject:
Звтра я с удов"льствием пошёл бы в тетр
I would very much like to go to the theatre tomorrow
(2) The phrase хотл бы ‘I would like to’ is commonly used in this
meaning:
Я хотл бы пойт в кин"
I would like to go to the cinema

Note
(a) Note the expression of desire in constructions of the type Скорй
бы пришл# лто! ‘Roll on summer!’, Похать бы дом"й! ‘Oh,
to go home!’
(b) Past tense + бы is also used to express a mild injunction: Помогл
бы ей ‘You might give her a hand’. This is much less peremptory
than the imperative: Помог те ей! ‘Help her!’

308 Use of the subjunctive to express wish or desire

(1) In translating the sentences

(i) I want to vote
(ii) I want you to vote
the infinitive in (i), in which the subject is the same for both verbs, is
rendered by a Russian infinitive
Я хоч голосовть
while the infinitive in (ii), in which the subjects of the two verbs are different
I want
you to vote
336 The Verb 308

is rendered in Russian by a subjunctive (чтBбы + past tense):

Я хоч), чтBбы вы голосовли
Мы хотм, чт#бы в мре н было дерного оржия (B. Yeltsin)
We want the world to be without nuclear weapons
Compare
Он не х#чет, чтBбы я танцевл с Тамрой (Nikolaev)
He does not want me to dance with Tamara

Note
Чтbбы is never used with the present or future tense, only with the
past.
(2) Other words denoting desirability or undesirability may also appear
in the main clause: вжно ‘it is important’, желтельно ‘it is desirable’,
за то ‘in favour of’, л)чше ‘it is better’, настивать/настоть ‘to
insist’, прBтив тог# ‘against’, трбовать/по- ‘to demand’:
Глвное, чтbбы спорт служл длу мра (Kuleshov)
The main thing is that sport should serve the cause of peace
Я не прBтив тог#, чтBбы он брал на себ часть хлоп"т на кхне
(Russia Today)
I do not object to his taking on some of the kitchen chores
Никт" не трбует, чтbбы двушка сидла одн взаперт
(Rabotnitsa)
No one demands that a girl should remain locked up in seclusion

Note
(a) Desirability may also be implied by constructions with сказть
‘to tell’ (Мне мой приёмный отц сказл, чтBб я зап#мнил
мсто, где ркописи зак"паны (Izvestiya) ‘My foster father told
me to remember where the manuscripts are buried’, Скаж те
вшему Втьке, чтbбы он за мной не ход л (Rasputin) ‘Tell
your Vitka to stop following me around’) and предупред ть ‘to
warn’ (Я предупред л ег", чтbбы он не уход д ‘I warned him
not to go away’).
(b) The idiomatic use of чтBбы + past tense to issue a warning:
ЧтBбы я Iтого б"льше не сл1шал! ‘Don’t ever let me hear
you say that again!’
(c) In colloquial contexts, хотть may combine with a future verb:
Хотте, я вам скаж) ‘Would you like me to tell you?’
 309–310 Conditional, Subjunctive 337

309 The subjunctive of purposeful endeavour

(1) If we compare
(i) Я хоч), чтBбы он пришёл
I want him to come
(ii) Я добивюсь тог#, чтBбы он пришёл
I am trying to get him to come
then the wish that he should come, expressed in (i) by the verb хоч), finds
its counterpart in (ii) in purposeful endeavour (добивюсь) to achieve the
desired aim.
(2) Other words involved in this type of construction include длать
всё, чтBбы ‘to do everything to ensure that’, заб#титься о том, чтBбы
‘to take care that’, след ть за тем, чтBбы ‘to see to it that’, смотрть,
чтBбы ‘to mind that’, стрем ться к том), чтBбы ‘to strive’:
Заб#титься о т#м, чтBбы вы не проспли, бдет ЭВe телеф"нной
стнции (Izvestiya)
The computer at the telephone exchange will see to it that you do not
sleep in
Смотр , чтBб Кутзов теб не поймл (Yakhontov)
Mind Kutuzov doesn’t catch you

Note
Добивться/доб ться is used with the subjunctive to denote intent
to achieve a purpose (Мы добивемся тог#, чтBбы он согласлась
‘We are trying to get her to agree’) and with the indicative to denote
achievement (В конц конц"в председтель доб лся тог#, что
он соглас лась (Rasputin) ‘The chairman eventually got her to
agree’).

310 Purpose clauses

A purpose clause describes an action which is taken with the aim of achieving
a desired result. The result clause is introduced:
(1) By чтBбы + infinitive if both clauses have the same subject:
Он встал, чтBбы откр1ть окн#
He got up in order to open the window
338 The Verb 310–311

Я позвон брту, чтBбы пап#мнить ем о вчере

I shall ring my brother in order to remind him of the party
(2) By чтBбы + the past tense (the subjunctive of purpose) if the two
clauses have different subjects:
Он встал, чтBбы он могл сесть
He got up so that she could sit down
Я позвон брту, чтBбы он знал, что я прихал
I shall ring my brother, so that he knows I have arrived
Человк снял л$жи, чтBбы он не мешли ем ползт (Nagibin)
The man removed his skis, so that they should not prevent him from
crawling

311 The expression of hypothesis

(1) If we compare the sentences

(i) I have not met the man who swam the Channel
(ii) I have never met a man who has not heard of Leo Tolstoy
then it is clear that (i) refers to an actual person (the man who swam the
Channel), while (ii) is dealing with a hypothetical situation (an imaginary
person who has not heard of Leo Tolstoy).
(i) is expressed in Russian using the indicative:
Я не встречл человка, кот#рый перепл1л Ла-Мнш
I have not met the man who swam the Channel
(ii) is expressed using the subjunctive of hypothesis (past tense + бы):
Я не встречл человка, кот#рый бы не слыхл о Толст"м
I have never met a man who has not heard of Tolstoy
Compare
Нет "трасли пром$шленности, для кот"рой освоние
космческого прострнства не оказлось бы ползным
(Izvestiya)
There is no industry which has not benefited from the conquest of
space
(2) A similar distinction is made in constructions with сл)чай between:
 311 Conditional, Subjunctive 339

(i) Incidents which did occur, where the indicative is used:

Ск"лько у нас б$ло сл)чаев, когд снимли с машн стёкла
(Literaturnaya gazeta)
There have been umpteen cases of car wind-screens being removed
(ii) Incidents which did not occur, where the subjunctive is used:
Н было слчая, чтBбы он заблуд лся (Kazakov)
There was not a single instance of his getting lost
(3) The same principle applies to constructions with verbs of perception
and statement: в деть ‘to see’, замтить ‘to notice’, п#мнить ‘to
remember’, сказть ‘to say’, сл1шать ‘to hear’ etc.
(i) The indicative is used to refer to an actual occurrence:
Вжу, как он нгрют в футб"л
I see them playing football
(ii) The subjunctive indicates that the subject did not witness or recall the
incident and may doubt whether it in fact occurred:
Не п"мню, чтBбы он хоть раз взял к"рку хлба (Rasputin)
I do not recall her even once taking a crust of bread
Я не замнил, чтBбы он упл в #бморок
I did not notice him fainting
Use of the indicative here would constitute an acknowledgement that the
incident occurred — but that the subject did not witness it:
Я не замтил, что он упл в #бморок
I did not notice that he had fainted

Note
(a) Hypotheses may also be introduced by the phrase не то, чтBбы,
И он не то чтBбы был недов"лен жзнью, считл себ
неудчником (Tendryakov)
It is not that he was dissatisfied with life, he just considered himself
unlucky
or by negated verbs which imply an unreal situation:
Дня ведь не проходло, чтBбы он не похвал ла невстку
(Zalygin)
Never a day passed without her praising her daughter-in-law
(b) Боться ‘to fear’ combines either with the indicative (Бось,
что он провлится ‘I am afraid he will fail’, Бось, что он не
340 The Verb 311–312

придёт ‘I am afraid he won’t come’) or a subjunctive (note ‘illogical’

negative): Бось, чтBбы он не провал лся ‘I am afraid he may fail’.

312 Concessive constructions

(1) The particle бы also appears in concessive constructions (English

‘whoever’, ‘whatever’ etc.):

кто/что/как/где/куд/как#й/ск#лько + бы + ни + past tense

Чег# бы Lто мне ни ст#ило, на как е бы жртвы ни иришл#сь

пойт — а своег" добьсь (Rabotnitsa)
Whatever it costs, whatever sacrifices I may be called upon to
make, I shall achieve my goal

Я вдел, что черепхам пл"хо в нев"ле, кк бы я ни старлся

хорош" за нми ухживать (Yunyi naturalist)
I saw that the tortoises were ill at ease in captivity, however much
I might try to look after them properly

(2) Бы may be omitted, in reference to an actual incident:

Ск#лько Н"сов ни тряс приёмник, г"лос дктора не зазвучл

вновь (Povolyaev)
However much Nosov shook the receiver, the announcer’s voice
remained silent

Как я ни бор#лся за её здор"вье, всё напрсно (Yunyi naturalist)

No matter how much I fought to restore her to health, it was all
in vain

(3) The future may be used to denote that all instances are covered:

Как)ю газту ни откр#ешь — всду разгов"р о жнщине (Russia

Today)
Whichever paper you open, the talk is only of women

Note the set phrases

во что бы то ни стло at any cost

как бы то н было however that might be
как Lто ни парадоксльно paradoxical as it may seem
как Lто ни стрнно strange as it may seem
 312–313 Obligation, Possibility 341

Л$жник во что бы то ни стло хотл продолжть свой

мучтельный путь (Nagibin)
The skier was determined to continue his agonizing journey come
what may

Constructions Expressing Obligation, Necessity,

Possibility or Potential

313 The expression of obligation and necessity

Obligation and necessity can be expressed in the following ways:

(1) Д"лжен + infinitive

(i) Д#лжен, должн, должн#, должн1 have the endings of short-form

adjectives and agree with the subject in gender and number:

я, ты, он д#лжен ‘I, you, he must’ (masculine subject)

я, ты, он должн ‘I , you, she must’ (feminine subject)
он" должн# ‘it must’
мы, вы, он должн1 ‘we, you, they must’

(ii) They also combine with past and future forms of быть:

я, ты, он д"лжен был ‘I, you, he had to’ (masculine subject)

я, ты, он должн был ‘I, you, she had to’ (feminine subject)
он" должн" б1ло ‘it had to’
мы, вы, он должн$ б1ли ‘we, you, they had to’

я д"лжен/должн б)ду ‘I shall have to’

ты д"лжен/должн б)дешь
он д"лжен б)дет
он должн б)дет
он" должн" б)дет
мы должн$ б)дем
вы должн$ б)дете
он должн$ б)дут
‘you will have to’
‘he will have to’
‘she will have to’
‘it will have to’
‘we shall have to’
‘you will have to’
‘they will have to’

(iii) Д#лжен expresses moral necessity:

Кждый человк д#лжен трудться

Every person must work
342 The Verb 313

(iv) It is also used to express other modal concepts, the equivalents of

‘should’, ‘ought to’, ‘is supposed to’, ‘is due to’ etc.:
Цны должн1 быть гбкими (Literaturnaya gazeta)
Prices should be flexible
В разлчных стрнах мра хрантся великолпные пмятники
культре, и мы должн1 знать о них (Nedelya)
Splendid monuments to culture are preserved in various countries of the
world, and we ought to know about them
Пытюсь бут$лки из-под минерльной вод$ сдать, а пункт
хоть и д#лжен раб"тать, но не раб"тает (Nedelya)
I try to hand in some empty mineral-water bottles, but the collection
point is not working, though it is supposed to be
П"езд д#лжен прийт в час дня
The train is due in at 1 p.m.

Note
(a) Past and future usage:
Сейчс Мансров д#лжен был подойт к ней, обнть её
(Zalygin)
Now Mansurov should have come up to her and embraced her
Он должн б)дет пом"чь мтери
She will have to help her mother
(b) The use of должн# быть, in parenthesis, to denote supposition: Он,
должн# быть, заболла ‘She must have fallen ill’; Он, должн#
быть, не п"нял ‘He can’t have understood’.
(2) Нжно, ндо
(i) Н)жно, ндо refer to necessity:
Ем н)жно/ндо б1ло преждеврменно уйт на пнсию по
слбости здор"вья
He had to retire early due to ill health
(ii) They can also express the meaning ‘ought to’:
Больн"му ндо б1ло сдлать переливние кр"ви
The patient ought to have had a blood transfusion
(iii) Compare не н)жно ‘it is not necessary’ and не ндо ‘one should not’:
 313–314 Obligation, Possibility 343

Не н)жно запирть дверь

It is not necessary to lock the door
Не ндо запирть дверь
You should not lock the door
(3) Ст"ит, слдует, прйтсь, в$нужден, обзан
(i) Ст#ит refers to recommended action:
Ст#ит посмотрть Iтот фильм
It is worth seeing this film
(ii) Слдует is more categorical:
Не слдует так поступть
One shouldn’t behave like that
(iii) Прийт сь implies reluctant acceptance of necessity:
Ем пришл#сь бежть всю дор"гу
He had to run all the way
(iv) В1нужден means ‘forced’, обзан means ‘obliged’:
Пил"т был в1нужден посадть самолёт в пуст$не
The pilot was forced to land the aircraft in the desert
Врач обзана пом"чь больн"му
The doctor is obliged to help the patient

314 The expression of possibility or potential

Possibility or potential may be expressed in the following ways:

(1) Мочь, смочь ‘to be able’
Я мог)/смог) принть вше приглашние
I can/shall be able to accept your invitation

Note
(a) A distinction is made between мочь ‘to be (physically) able’ and
умть ‘to be able, know how to’. Compare Я умю плвать ‘I
can/know how to swim’ and Сег"дня я не мог) плвать: у мен
рук болт ‘I can’t swim today: I have a sore arm’.
(b) The imperfective future of мочь is rarely, if ever, used. Instead,
the future of быть в состонии + the infinitive is preferred (see
225 (7)).
344 The Verb 314

(c) Мочь can also be the equivalent of English ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘could
have’, ‘might have’:
Мне м#гут возразть: лчше по кооператвной цен, чем
вообщ отстствие товра в магазне (Literaturnaya gazeta)
People may object: better at the co-operative price, than the
unavailability of the product in the shops
В кссе м#гут быть билты
There might be tickets at the box-office
Как он мог отвтить инче?
What other answer could he have given?
Sсли он решлась на Iто, знчит, могл решться и на друг"е
(Zalygin)
If she made this decision, she might equally well have made a
different decision
(2) М"жно/нельз, (не)возм"жно
(i) М#жно and нельз can denote:
(a) Permission/prohibition:
— М#жно сюд сесть?
— Нет, нельз
‘May I sit here?’
‘No, you may not’

Note
Нельз ли is used to express a very polite request: Нельз ли сюд сесть?
‘Please, may I sit here?’ (cf. ‘neutral’ М#жно ли?). Conversely, it may
express irritation: Нельз ли потше?! ‘Couldn’t you be a little quieter?!’
(b) Possibility/impossibility:
Кислор"д м#жно получть из вод$
Oxygen can be extracted from water
Нельз согласться с ним
One cannot agree with him

Note
(a) М#жно is often used with interrogative words: На как"м
авт"бусе м#жно дохать до цнтра? ‘Which bus do I take for the
city centre?’