Сделайте это по-другому.

Сделайте is the imperative form of the verb сделать.

It means do! / make! when giving a command, instruction, or request.

More specifically:

• сделать = to do / to make (perfective)
• сделайте = do it / make it directed to:
  • more than one person, or
  • one person formally/politely

So this is the formal/plural command form.

Compare:

• сделай = do it! (to one person, informal)
• сделайте = do it! (to several people, or to one person politely)

This is about aspect, which is very important in Russian.

• сделать is perfective
• делать is imperfective

In commands, the difference is often:

• сделайте = do it, get it done, do it once / as a complete action
• делайте = be doing it / do it repeatedly / do it in general

In Сделайте это по-другому, the speaker usually means:

• change the way you do it
• produce a different result
• do this one task differently

So the perfective сделайте fits well, because it focuses on the action as a completed whole.

Это means it / this here and is the direct object of the verb.

The sentence structure is basically:

• Сделайте = do
• это = it / this
• по-другому = differently / another way

So literally the structure is:

• Do this differently or
• Do it another way

In Russian, это is very common when referring to a thing, action, idea, or task already known from context.

Because это can already serve as the needed object form in this sentence.

For learners, the key point is that in Сделайте это, это is functioning as the thing being done. In many everyday sentences, это looks the same in nominative and accusative, especially with neuter inanimate reference.

So you can think of it as:

• это = this / it

and here it is simply the object of сделайте.

По-другому is an adverb, meaning:

• differently
• in another way

It describes how the action should be done.

So:

• Сделайте это по-другому = Do it differently

Even though it looks like it may contain an adjective form, the whole expression по-другому functions as one adverbial unit.

Because many Russian adverbs formed with по- plus a form ending in -ому / -ему / -ски / -цки / -ьи are written with a hyphen.

So:

• по-другому
• по-новому
• по-моему
• по-русски

This is a spelling rule, not something optional.

So по другому without a hyphen would be incorrect here.

Yes. It comes from другой, which means other / another.

So the idea behind по-другому is roughly:

• in an other way
• more naturally: in another way

English does not build it the same way, so it is best learned as a fixed adverb meaning differently.

Yes, very often you can.

• Сделайте это по-другому
• Сделайте это иначе

Both can mean Do it differently.

A small nuance:

• по-другому often feels a bit more like in another way
• иначе often feels more like otherwise / differently

In many situations, they are interchangeable.

By itself, it is a direct instruction. It is not automatically rude, but it can sound firm depending on context and intonation.

Why it may sound polite enough:

• сделайте is the formal/plural imperative, not the informal сделай

Why it may still sound strong:

• imperatives are direct by nature

To make it softer, you could add:

• Пожалуйста, сделайте это по-другому. = Please do it differently.
• Сделайте, пожалуйста, это по-другому.

So the sentence is best understood as a normal instruction or request, with politeness depending a lot on tone and context.

The singular informal version is:

• Сделай это по-другому.

Use this when speaking to:

• one friend
• one child
• someone you address with ты

Use Сделайте это по-другому when speaking to:

• one person formally (вы)
• several people

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, although some versions sound more natural than others depending on emphasis.

The neutral version is:

• Сделайте это по-другому.

Other possible orders include:

• Это сделайте по-другому.
  This puts more emphasis on это = this / this part
• Сделайте по-другому это.
  This is much less natural in most contexts and would only work with special emphasis

So the original sentence is the most standard and natural word order.

The stresses are:

• сде́лайте
• э́то
• по-друго́му

So you would pronounce it roughly as:

• СДЕ-lai-tye E-ta pa-dru-GO-mu

Getting the stress right especially helps with:

• сде́лайте
• по-друго́му

Not exactly.

Сделайте это по-другому means:

• do it differently
• do it another way

It may imply redoing something, but that depends on context.

For example:

• if someone has already done it and the speaker is unhappy, it may effectively mean do it again, but differently
• if someone is just about to do it, it simply means use a different method

So the Russian sentence itself focuses on a different way of doing it, not necessarily on the idea of repetition.