Learn Hardcore Russian: Я надеваю очки, чтобы лучше читать.

Наде́вать means “to put on” (an item of clothing or accessory). You use it when the action is placing something onto your body (e.g. надеваю пальто, надеваю очки).
Одева́ть also means “to dress,” but its direct object is usually a person (одевать ребёнка – to dress a child).
Носить means “to wear” in the sense of carrying or having something on habitually, not the act of putting it on (e.g. я ношу очки – “I wear glasses” regularly).

What’s the difference between the imperfective надеваю and the perfective надену?

Russian verbs come in aspect pairs:
• Imperfective (надеваю) focuses on the process or a habitual action (“I am putting on” or “I put on (from time to time)”).
• Perfective (надену) focuses on completion (“I will put on” or “I put on (and now it’s done)”).
In this sentence Я надеваю очки describes the action itself (I’m in the process of putting them on or I do this habitually).

Why does очки look the same in the accusative as in the nominative?

Очки is a plural, inanimate noun. In Russian the accusative plural of inanimate nouns matches the nominative plural form. So even though очки is the direct object here, it stays очки.

What role does чтобы play in this sentence? How is it different from для or для того чтобы?

Чтобы introduces a purpose clause and means “in order to.” It’s always followed by an infinitive (читать).
– для + noun (e.g. для чтения) means “for [the purpose of] reading,” but you’d need a noun, not a verb.
– для того чтобы is a longer, more formal variant of чтобы, but means the same thing: Я надеваю очки для того чтобы лучше читать.

Why is there a comma before чтобы?

In Russian, you separate a main clause from a subordinate clause with a comma. Since чтобы лучше читать is a subordinate (purpose) clause, you place a comma before чтобы.

Why is the adverb лучше placed before the infinitive читать, and could you switch the order?

Russian word order is flexible. Placing лучше before читать emphasizes “better.” You could also say чтобы читать лучше, which is grammatically correct and very close in meaning. The original order is simply more idiomatic.

What part of speech is лучше, and how does it modify читать?

Лучше is the comparative form of the adverb хорошо (“well”), so it means “better.” It directly modifies the infinitive читать, telling us how you want to read.

Should чтобы ever be written as two words (что бы)?

When you mean “in order to,” it’s always one word: чтобы. Written separately (что бы) it would be the pronoun что (“what”) plus the particle бы, used in conditional or indirect questions (e.g. Что бы ты сделал? – “What would you do?”).

Do I need a possessive pronoun before очки, like мои очки?

Not necessarily. In Russian you often drop possessives when context makes ownership clear. Я надеваю очки naturally means “I put on my glasses.” If you want to stress “my own,” you can say Я надеваю свои очки, but it’s not required here.