Learn Hardcore Russian: Сейчас я иду на почту, потому что мне нужно отправить посылку. - Now I am going to the post office because I need to send a parcel.

сейчас means now or right now, indicating the action is happening at the current moment or very soon. It’s an adverb of time. In the sentence Сейчас я иду на почту…, it emphasizes that the speaker is going to the post office immediately (or is already on their way).

Why is иду used instead of хожу?

Russian has two imperfective verbs of motion for “to go” on foot:

идти (unidirectional) describes going right now or in one direction.
ходить (multidirectional) describes habitual or regular going, or roaming.

Here, иду (1st-person singular present of идти) tells us the speaker is going at this very moment. If they said я хожу на почту, it would mean “I go to the post office regularly” (e.g. as a habit).

Why на почту and not в почту?

In Russian, certain destinations—especially institutions, services or open events—use на + accusative:

на почту (to the post office)
на рынок (to the market)
на концерт (to a concert)

Using в + accusative often implies entering a specific enclosed space (e.g. в школу “into the school building”). Saying на почту focuses on going to the post-office service itself, which is the standard collocation.

What does потому что mean and how do you use it?

потому что is the conjunction because, used to introduce a clause that gives a reason. The typical word order is:
Clause A, потому что Clause B.
In our sentence:
…иду на почту, потому что мне нужно отправить посылку.
You can also use что alone in colloquial speech or так как in more formal contexts.

How does the construction мне нужно + infinitive work?

This construction expresses necessity. It literally reads as “to me (мне) it is necessary (нужно) to do something (infinitive).”

мне is the dative pronoun (“to me”)
нужно is an impersonal adjective meaning “necessary”
the infinitive (отправить) names the required action

So мне нужно отправить посылку = I need to send a parcel.

Why is отправить (perfective) used instead of отправлять (imperfective)?

Perfective aspect (отправить) refers to a single, completed action or the intention to complete it. Imperfective (отправлять) would highlight the process or a repeated/habitual action. Since the speaker has one specific parcel to send right now, they choose the perfective отправить.

What does посылка mean and how is it different from пакет?

посылка is a parcel or package sent via mail or courier.
пакет is a bag or package more generally (e.g. a plastic bag, a boxed product).

Use посылка when talking about mailing something; пакет refers to the container or wrapping itself.

Are there synonyms for отправить, and do they differ?

Common synonyms include:

послать – a general verb “to send” (someone or something)
отослать – very similar to отправить, slightly more formal or literary

отправить is the most neutral and widely used when referring to mail, emails, parcels, etc.