Я повернул направо после моста.

I turned right after the bridge.

Breakdown of Я повернул направо после моста.

• я: I
• мост: the bridge
• после: after
• повернуть: to turn
• направо: right

Questions & Answers about Я повернул направо после моста.

Why is повернул used instead of поворачивал, and how do these aspects differ?

Russian verbs come in two aspects: perfective (completed action) and imperfective (ongoing or habitual action).
– повернул is the perfective past tense of повернуть, indicating “I completed the turn.”
– поворачивал is the imperfective, implying “I was turning” (ongoing) or “I used to turn” (habitual).
In a narrative describing a single completed event, the perfective повернул is the natural choice.

How is the Russian past tense formed, and what do endings like -л, -ла, -ло, -ли indicate?

To form the past tense, drop the infinitive -ть and add a gender/number ending:

• -л for masculine singular (я повернул)
• -ла for feminine singular (я повернула)
• -ло for neuter singular (оно повернуло)
• -ли for all plurals (мы повернули)
  These endings agree with the subject’s gender and number.

If a woman were speaking, how would the sentence change?

A female speaker takes the feminine past ending -ла:
Я повернула направо после моста.

What part of speech is направо, and can I use вправо instead?

направо is an adverb meaning “to the right.”
вправо is a perfect synonym (“to the right”) and can generally be used interchangeably.
Style note: направо is more colloquial and common in everyday instructions, while вправо may appear in more formal or technical contexts.

Why is после моста in the genitive case, and what case does после govern?

The preposition после always takes the genitive case. It expresses that one thing comes “after” another (in time or sequence).
Here, мост (nominative) becomes моста (genitive) after после, so после моста = “after the bridge.”

What’s the difference between после моста and за мостом? Can I use them interchangeably?

– после моста focuses on sequence along your route: “after you pass the bridge.”
– за мостом is purely spatial: “behind the bridge” or “on the far side of the bridge.”
In many navigation contexts they overlap, but после моста emphasizes “then do X,” while за мостом emphasizes “X is located beyond the bridge.”

Why is направо written as one word, not на право?

Directional adverbs like направо, налево, вверх, вниз have fused into single words in modern Russian.
Writing на право separately is outdated or dialectal. The standard form is the fused adverb направо.

Can после be used in spatial contexts, or is it only temporal?

While после often marks “after” in time (e.g., после обеда – “after lunch”), it also works spatially to show sequence along a path. In после моста, it tells you what comes next on your route.