Questions & Answers about Не добавляй много сахара в чай.
What form is добавляй, and who am I talking to?
Добавляй is the 2nd person singular imperative of добавлять (to add). It addresses one person informally (the ты form). To address someone formally or more than one person, use Не добавляйте много сахара в чай.
Why is it не добавляй and not не добавь?
Negative imperatives in Russian typically use the imperfective: Не добавляй sounds like a normal prohibition (“don’t add”). Не добавь (perfective) exists but is rare and feels like a sharp warning “don’t you dare add (even once)”; in everyday speech it’s safer and more natural to say Не добавляй.
How can I make this more polite?
Add пожалуйста: Пожалуйста, не добавляй много сахара в чай (informal) or Пожалуйста, не добавляйте… (formal/plural). To soften further, use an impersonal phrasing: Не надо добавлять много сахара в чай or Лучше не добавлять много сахара в чай.
Why is it много сахара and not “много сахар”?
After quantity words like много/мало/столько, Russian uses the genitive case. With mass nouns like сахар, that’s genitive singular: сахара. So много сахара literally means “a lot of sugar (of it).”