Breakdown of Когда наливаешь горячую воду из чайника, делай это осторожно.
вода
the water
когда
when
из
from
это
it
делать
to do
горячий
hot
наливать
to pour
чайник
the kettle
осторожно
carefully
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Questions & Answers about Когда наливаешь горячую воду из чайника, делай это осторожно.
Why is the subordinate clause introduced by Когда in the present tense here rather than using a future tense?
In Russian, when you give general instructions or talk about habitual/repeated events, the когда-clause normally uses the present tense. It’s equivalent to “Whenever you pour hot water…” rather than a one-off future event.
Why is the verb наливаешь in the imperfective aspect instead of the perfective нальёшь?
The imperfective наливаешь focuses on the ongoing or repeated action of pouring. A perfective form like нальёшь would single out one completed act (“once you’ve poured”), which doesn’t fit the idea of “every time you pour.”
What’s the function of из чайника, and why not с чайника?
из + genitive indicates “out of” or “from inside” a container. A kettle holds water, so you pour из чайника (“from the inside of the kettle”). с + genitive is used for “off of” a surface (e.g., с полки “from the shelf”).
Why is горячую воду in the accusative case?
Because воду is the direct object of the verb наливаешь, it takes the accusative. The adjective горячую agrees with the feminine noun вода in gender, number and case.
Why is the pronoun ты omitted in both наливаешь and делай?
Russian frequently drops subject pronouns when the verb ending clearly marks person and number. Here, -ешь and the imperative -ай(те) endings make it obvious you’re speaking to ты, so ты is unnecessary.
Why is делай in the imperative mood?
Because the second part is a command/instruction: “do it carefully.” An imperative verb (делай) tells someone directly what to do.
What does это refer to, and is it required?
это is a neutral pronoun meaning “it,” referring back to the action of pouring hot water. You could drop it if context is clear (“делай осторожно”), but including это makes the instruction more explicit: “do it carefully.”
What part of speech is осторожно, and why is it used here?
осторожно is an adverb modifying делай. It describes how you should carry out the action (“carefully”).
Can the word order change? For example, is делай осторожно это acceptable?
While grammatically possible, делай осторожно это sounds awkward. The natural order is делай это осторожно (verb + pronoun + adverb) or делай осторожно when это is dropped.