Learn Hardcore Russian: Учитель посоветовал моей подруге делать паузы. - The teacher advised my female friend to take pauses.

Because with verbs like советовать/посоветовать you indicate the person who receives the advice with the dative (answering “to whom?” — кому?). The pattern is: посоветовать кому? (дательный) что делать? (инфинитив). So nominative моя подруга becomes dative моей подруге.

Why not say мою подругу (accusative) here?

With advising, the person is an indirect object (dative), not a direct object. Accusative would be used for the thing advised if it were a direct object noun (but here it’s an infinitive phrase). The natural patterns are:

посоветовал моей подруге сделать паузу / делать паузы
less natural: посоветовал паузу (sounds off)

Why does посоветовал end with masculine -л?

The past tense verb agrees with the grammatical gender of the subject. Учитель is grammatically masculine, so it’s посоветовал. If the teacher were female (учительница), it would be посоветовала.

What’s the difference between посоветовал and советовал?

Aspect and completeness:

посоветовал (perfective): one completed act of advising.
советовал (imperfective): advising was ongoing/repeated or background activity.

Why is the infinitive делать (imperfective) used, not сделать?

Imperfective here expresses a general/habitual recommendation—“to take pauses regularly.” Perfective сделать would refer to a single, one‑time action (“to take a pause once”).

Why plural паузы instead of singular паузу?

Plural fits the idea of repeated pauses over time. You’d use singular mostly for a single event:

Habitual: делать паузы
One time: сделать паузу “Делать паузу” can occur if modified (e.g., делать паузу чаще), but the bare habitual collocation is usually plural.

What case is паузы here, and why does it look like nominative?

It’s accusative plural as the direct object of делать. For inanimate nouns, accusative plural = nominative plural, so паузы looks the same in both cases.

Can I say сделать паузу instead of делать паузы?

Yes, but it changes the meaning:

посоветовал сделать паузу = advised her to take a (single) pause.
посоветовал делать паузы = advised her to take pauses regularly.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move parts around?

Russian word order is flexible. Neutral and common:

Учитель посоветовал моей подруге делать паузы. Other acceptable orders with slight shifts of emphasis:
Учитель моей подруге посоветовал делать паузы.
Моей подруге учитель посоветовал делать паузы.
Учитель посоветовал делать паузы моей подруге. Fronting an element often emphasizes it.

Can I replace моей подруге with a pronoun?

Yes: Учитель посоветовал ей делать паузы. You can also front it for emphasis: Ей учитель посоветовал делать паузы.

Could I use a чтобы clause instead of an infinitive?

Possible but less preferred with советовать/посоветовать. You might hear: Учитель посоветовал, чтобы она делала паузы. It’s grammatical, a bit heavier. The most natural form is dative + infinitive: посоветовал ей делать паузы.

Are there good synonyms for посоветовал here?

Yes:

рекомендовал (recommended): Учитель рекомендовал моей подруге делать паузы.
предложил (suggested/proposed): Учитель предложил моей подруге делать паузы. All govern the recipient in dative.

Is брать/взять паузу okay, or should I stick to делать/сделать паузу?

All exist, with nuances:

Habitual: делать паузы (most natural for repeated, short pauses, e.g., in speech).
One time: сделать паузу (neutral).
взять паузу is common in the sense “take a (longer/official) break” (e.g., in a relationship or project). Plural брать паузы is less common.

Does подруга mean “girlfriend”?

It means “female friend.” “Girlfriend” in the romantic sense is typically девушка (context matters). So моя подруга = my female friend; моя девушка = my girlfriend.

Why is it моей, not моя?

Agreement. Possessives change for gender, number, and case:

Nominative: моя подруга
Dative: моей подруге Similarly: мой друг → моему другу (masc. dative).

Any pronunciation tips (stress)?

Stress falls as follows: учи́тель посове́товал мое́й подру́ге де́лать пау́зы. Keep the unstressed endings short and reduce vowels; don’t shift the stress onto the final syllables.

Do I need any commas or extra punctuation here?

No. It’s a simple clause with no subordinate parts, so no comma is required.