Надо (часть первая)
One of the words in Russian that is translated as need is надо. It is used in impersonal sentences. Impersonal sentences are those which do not have a grammatical subject in the nominative case. The verb used with надо appears in the infinitive form, and the person who needs to do the action appears in the dative case. If you need to do something only once, then usually the verb appears in the perfective:
| Мне надо купить аспирин. Болит голова. | I need to buy aspirin. I have a headache. |
| Вике надо зайти в магазин за туалетной бумагой. | Victoria needs to go to the store to get toilet paper. |
| Игорю надо найти новую работу. | Igor needs to find a new job. |
To put the sentence into the past or future, you add the words было or будет:
| Мне надо было купить аспирин, так как болела голова. | I needed to buy aspirin because I had a headache. |
| Вике надо будет зайти в магазин за туалетной бумагой. | Victoria will need to go to the store to get toilet paper. |
If you need to do something regularly, then the infinitive shows up in the imperfective:
| Ты постоянно опаздываешь. Тебе надо вставать пораньше. | You are always late. You need to get up earlier. |
| Какой Дима неряха. Ему надо почаще убирать в квартире. | Dima is such a slob. Needs to clean his apartment more often. |
Now here is a subtle point. If you use надо 'need' as a rough equivalent for 'it is time to,' then the infinitive appears in the imperfective, even if you are talking about a one time action:
| Ваня, чего ты всё ещё лежишь в постели? Надо сейчас же вставать. | Ivan, why are you still lying in bed? You need to get up right now. |
| Я больше не могу ждать. Мне надо идти. | I can't wait any longer. I have to go. |
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