Сначала перечитай внимательно прошлые предложения.

First, reread the previous sentences carefully.

Breakdown of Сначала перечитай внимательно прошлые предложения.

• предложение: the sentence
• сначала: first
• перечитать: to reread
• внимательно: carefully
• прошлый: previous

Questions & Answers about Сначала перечитай внимательно прошлые предложения.

What does Сначала mean in this sentence?

Сначала is an adverb meaning “first” or “firstly,” indicating that this action (re-reading) should be done before any other steps.

Why is перечитай used here, and what aspect does it express?

Перечитай is the second-person singular imperative of the perfective verb перечитать (“to re-read”). The perfective aspect signals that you should complete the action once—i.e. read through the past sentences in their entirety again.

Why is внимательно placed after перечитай, and can its position change?

Внимательно (“carefully”) is an adverb modifying the verb перечитай. In Russian, adverbs are quite flexible, so you could also say:
• Сначала внимательно перечитай прошлые предложения
• Сначала перечитай прошлые предложения внимательно
Shifting its position slightly changes which element you emphasize (the order, the manner, or the object), but the core meaning stays the same.

What grammatical case is прошлые предложения, and why is it used here?

Прошлые предложения is in the accusative plural. Since these are inanimate nouns, the accusative form looks identical to the nominative. It’s used here as the direct object of the verb перечитай—you are re-reading “what?” the past sentences.

What’s the difference between прошлые предложения and предыдущие предложения?

Both can be translated as “previous sentences,” but:

• Прошлые literally means “past” or “former” and is a bit more general.
• Предыдущие specifically means “the ones immediately before.”
  In many contexts they’re interchangeable, though предыдущие focuses slightly more on chronological proximity.

Could you omit сначала and still convey the same idea?

Yes. Перечитай внимательно прошлые предложения still means “Re-read the past sentences carefully.” Omitting сначала removes the explicit marker of sequence (“firstly”), but the core instruction—to re-read carefully—remains clear.

What nuance does adding -ка make, as in перечитай-ка?

Appending the particle -ка to an imperative (перечитай-ка) makes the request more casual or friendly—like “Go on, re-read it for me.” It softens the command and is common in spoken, informal Russian.