Learn Hardcore Russian: Первый шаг — улыбнуться и сказать «Привет». - The first step is to smile and say “Hello.”

In Russian, when you have a subject ("Первый шаг") and a predicate expressed by an infinitive or noun phrase, you often insert a dash instead of the verb есть (“is”). It shows that “the first step” equals “to smile and say ‘hi.’”

Why are улыбнуться and сказать in the infinitive form rather than as imperatives (e.g., улыбнитесь, скажите)?

Here the sentence names the step itself (“Step 1 is to smile…”), so it uses infinitives. If you made it a direct instruction, you could switch to imperatives: Улыбнитесь и скажите Привет!

Why are the verbs perfective (улыбнуться, сказать) instead of imperfective (улыбаться, говорить)?

Perfective infinitives describe a single, completed action (“to smile once,” “to say ‘hi’ once”), which fits a list of discrete steps. Imperfective would stress the process or repeated action, which isn’t the goal in a one-off greeting step.

Why isn’t there a comma before и in улыбнуться и сказать?

In Russian, when you coordinate two verbs with и (“and”) as parts of the same predicate, you do not put a comma between them.

Why is Привет written in quotation marks and capitalized?

Quotation marks indicate that you’re actually quoting the word being said. Capitalizing Привет follows the rule for direct speech or cited interjections – it’s treated like the start of an utterance.

What case is Привет in after сказать? It looks unchanged.

Привет is in the accusative case, but for this noun accusative has the same form as nominative. So you see no ending change.

Could I use поприветствовать instead of сказать Привет?

Yes, поприветствовать is a single verb meaning “to greet.” It’s slightly more formal or literary. Сказать Привет feels more colloquial, like “to say ‘hi.’”

Can I insert это after the dash: Первый шаг — это улыбнуться…?

Absolutely. Adding это is common in spoken or written instructions:
Первый шаг — это улыбнуться и сказать Привет.
Both versions are correct; including это just makes the “is” link more explicit.