Breakdown of Пожалуйста, разбуди меня утром.
пожалуйста
please
меня
me
утром
in the morning
разбудить
to wake up
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Questions & Answers about Пожалуйста, разбуди меня утром.
What role does the word пожалуйста play here, and is the comma required?
Пожалуйста is an interjection meaning “please,” used to soften the imperative. When it comes first, it’s set off by a comma: Пожалуйста, разбуди меня утром. If you put it at the end, you use a comma before it: Разбуди меня утром, пожалуйста. Omitting the comma is considered a punctuation mistake in standard writing.
Why is it разбуди and not буди?
Разбуди is the perfective imperative of разбудить, focusing on the result (the state of being awake) and is preferred for a single, specific action. Буди is the imperfective imperative of будить, focusing on the process or repetition, and is natural for habits: Буди меня по утрам “Wake me (habitually) in the mornings.”
How do I say this formally or to more than one person?
Use the plural/formal imperative: Разбудите меня утром. You can keep or move пожалуйста: Пожалуйста, разбудите меня утром. / Разбудите меня утром, пожалуйста.
Why is it меня and not мне?
The verb разбудить takes a direct object in the accusative: кого? — меня (accusative of я). Мне is dative (“to me”) and is wrong here. Think: “Wake whom?” — “me.”
What case is утром, and why not в утро or в утром?
Утром is the instrumental singular of утро used adverbially to mean “in the morning.” Russian often uses bare instrumental for times of day: утром, днём, вечером, ночью. You don’t say в утро or в утром in everyday speech.
How do I specify a particular day or time?
- Day: завтра утром (tomorrow morning), сегодня утром (this morning).
- Time: в семь утра (at 7 a.m.).
Combine them: Разбуди меня завтра в семь утра.
Can I change the word order?
Yes; Russian word order is flexible, but some orders sound more natural. Neutral: Разбуди меня утром.
Other acceptable variants:
- Разбуди утром меня (mild emphasis on “me”).
- Меня разбуди утром (emphasizes “me” even more, slightly insistent).
The original is the most neutral and common.
How do I say “Don’t wake me in the morning”?
Use the imperfective for negative commands: Не буди меня утром. Negative imperatives typically avoid the perfective; Не разбуди меня sounds odd unless used in special warning-like contexts.
What’s the pronunciation and stress?
Stress marks: Пожа́луйста, разбуди́ меня́ у́тром.
Approximate IPA: [pɐˈʐaɫʊjstə | rɐzbʊˈdʲi mʲɪˈnʲa ˈutrəm]
Notes: ж = [ʐ] (like a retroflex “zh”); д before и is soft [dʲ]; я in меня is stressed [nʲa]; final -ом in утром reduces to [əm].
Can I omit пожалуйста, or put it elsewhere?
Yes. Imperative alone is fine but more direct: Разбуди меня утром. You can also place пожалуйста at the end: Разбуди меня утром, пожалуйста. All are common; choice affects politeness/softness, not meaning.
Is there a more deferential or softer way to ask?
Yes:
- Informal soft: Не мог бы ты разбудить меня утром?
- Formal: Не могли бы вы разбудить меня утром?
- Colloquial polite: Будь добр(а), разбуди меня утром.
What’s the difference between утром, по утрам, and с утра?
- утром = in the morning (a single morning or generally).
- по утрам = in the mornings (habitually, repeatedly).
- с утра = from the (early) morning; often implies “early in the morning.”
Do I need to include the subject “you” (ты/вы)?
No. The imperative form already encodes second person. Adding ты/вы would add emphasis or contrast: Ты разбуди меня утром, не он.
Is разбужи ever correct?
No as an imperative. The imperative is разбуди. Forms with -ж- occur in the future indicative: я разбу́жу, ты разбу́дишь…, but the command is разбуди(те).
Any gender agreement to worry about here?
Not in this imperative sentence. If you switch to past tense, the verb agrees with the subject’s gender: Ты меня разбудил утром? (said to a man) / Ты меня разбудила утром? (said to a woman).