Russian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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что (što) +‎ бы (by)

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈʂtobɨ] (phonetic respelling: што́бы)
  • Audio:(file)

Conjunction

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что́бы (štóby) (+ subjunctive or the infinitive)

  1. that...should (indicates the subjunctive)
  2. so that, in order that; in order to
    Невозмо́жно, что́бы она́ э́то сде́лалаNevozmóžno, štóby oná éto sdélalaIt’s impossible that she should have done this; She could not possibly have done this.
    что́бы быть во́времяštóby bytʹ vóvremjain order to be on time.
  3. lest
    что́бы я не забы́лštóby ja ne zabýllest I forget; so that I won’t forget.

Usage notes

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  • After чтобы, an infinitive is used if a subject is not specified. Он позвонил мне, чтобы сказать, что любит меня. (He phoned me in order to say that he loves me).
  • The subjunctive mood is used when a subject is specified. Я хочу, чтобы ты позвонил мне. (I want you to phone me). Even though the verb is in the past tense, it still refers to the future.
  • To put the construction in past tense, the first clause is changed to past tense. Я хотел, чтобы ты позвонил мне вчера. (I wanted you to phone me yesterday).
  • Чтобы is normally used with perfective verbs, but imperfective verbs will be used if there is a request not to do something.
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