Learn Hardcore Russian: Я осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом.

In Russian, the present tense of the main verb already includes the idea of “am/is/are”. There is no separate present‑tense word for “to be” in sentences like this.

English: I am cutting bread.
Russian: Я режу хлеб. (literally: I cut bread but it covers I am cutting too)

So я режу = I am cutting / I cut depending on context.

What case is ножом, and what does the ending -ом mean?

Ножом is the instrumental case of нож (knife).

The instrumental case often answers the question “чем?” (with what? / by means of what?).

Pattern: masculine noun ending in a consonant → add -ом in the instrumental singular.

нож (knife) → ножом (with a knife)
этот нож (this knife) → этим ножом (with this knife)

So этим ножом literally means by this knife, but naturally translates as with this knife.

Why is it этим ножом and not этот нож?

Этот is the nominative form (used for subjects): этот нож = this knife (as the subject).

But here, ножом is in the instrumental case, so the demonstrative pronoun also has to be in the instrumental to match:

Nominative: этот нож (this knife – subject)
Instrumental: этим ножом (with this knife – tool)

The pair этим ножом agrees in case (instrumental), gender (masculine), and number (singular).

Is осторожно an adjective or an adverb here?

In this sentence осторожно is an adverb meaning carefully / cautiously.

Adjective: осторожный (careful, cautious – describing a person or thing)
- осторожный человек – a careful person
Adverb: осторожно (carefully, cautiously – describing how an action is done)
- я режу осторожно – I cut carefully

The -о ending here marks it as an adverb derived from the adjective осторожный.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Я хлеб осторожно режу этим ножом?

Russian word order is relatively flexible, so you can move words around, but the neutral, most natural order here is:

Я осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом.

Other options are possible and still correct, but they may sound marked (emphasizing something):

Я режу хлеб этим ножом осторожно. – emphasis on осторожно (how you cut)
Хлеб я осторожно режу этим ножом. – emphasis on хлеб (as opposed to something else)
Этим ножом я осторожно режу хлеб. – emphasis on with this knife (not another one)

Your example Я хлеб осторожно режу этим ножом is grammatically possible, but it sounds less neutral and a bit awkward in everyday speech. Learners are safest sticking to:

Я осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом.

Can I leave out я and just say Осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом?

Yes. Russian often drops the subject pronoun when it’s clear from the verb ending.

Я режу – I cut / I am cutting
Режу – also clearly means I cut / I am cutting because the ending -у shows 1st person singular.

So:

Осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом. – perfectly natural in context (especially in spoken Russian).
Including я just makes the subject more explicit or can add emphasis.

Why isn’t there a preposition like с before этим ножом, since in English we say with this knife?

In Russian, the instrumental case alone often expresses the idea of “with (a tool)” without a preposition.

я режу хлеб ножом – I cut bread with a knife
я пишу ручкой – I write with a pen

Adding с here (с этим ножом) would mean together with this knife (as a companion), not using it as a tool. So с этим ножом would be: I am going somewhere with this knife (as company), which is a different meaning.

For tools/instruments, just use the instrumental case: этим ножом.

What is the nuance of осторожно? Is it more like carefully or cautiously?

Осторожно covers both ideas, but:

carefully – focusing on doing something with attention to avoid mistakes or damage;
cautiously – adds a sense of fear or risk, trying to avoid danger.

Осторожно usually means carefully / with care, but in contexts involving danger it also has the flavor of cautiously.

In this sentence, Я осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом, the most natural translation is:

I am carefully cutting the bread with this knife.

What’s the difference between режу, порежу, нарежу, and разрежу?

They all come from резать (to cut), but differ in aspect and nuance:

режу – imperfective, neutral:
- I (am) cutting (process, repeated/ongoing)
порежу – perfective:
- I will cut (a bit / will have cut) – completion of the action, often without focus on multiple pieces
нарежу – perfective, often implies cutting into multiple pieces or slices:
- нарезать хлеб – cut/slice bread (into slices)
разрежу – perfective, usually implies cutting something into parts, often in two:
- разрезать хлеб пополам – cut the bread in half

Your sentence uses режу to focus on the process of cutting and the way it’s done (carefully).

Is хлеб like English bread (uncountable), or is it countable? How do you say a loaf of bread?

Хлеб behaves similarly to English “bread” as a mass noun when we mean the substance in general:

я ем хлеб – I eat bread
купить хлеб – to buy bread

To talk about a specific unit (a loaf), Russian usually adds another noun:

буханка хлеба – a loaf of bread (round/brick-shaped)
батон – a loaf (long, baguette-like)

So your sentence:

Я осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом.
could be I am carefully cutting (the) bread with this knife, and context decides whether it means a particular loaf or bread in general.

How is the sentence pronounced, and where is the stress?

Stresses (capital letters showing stressed syllables):

Я осторОжно рЕжу хлеб Этим ножОм.

Rough pronunciation (Latin transcription):

Я – ya
осторожно – astaRÓZH-na
режу – RÉ-zhu (Ж + soft U sound)
хлеб – khlyep (х = harsh h from the throat)
этим – É-tym
ножом – naZHÓM

So the rhythm is: ya astaRÓZHna RÉzhu khlyep Étim naZHÓM.

Why doesn’t Russian use articles like “a” or “the” with хлеб?

Russian simply does not have articles. There is no direct equivalent of “a/an” or “the”.

Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from:

context,
word order,
additional words (like этот – “this”, тот – “that”, какой‑то – “some”/“a certain”), etc.

So Я осторожно режу хлеб этим ножом can mean:

I am carefully cutting bread with this knife (some bread), or
I am carefully cutting the bread with this knife (specific bread),

depending entirely on context, not on article words.