Остановись здесь.

Stop here.

Breakdown of Остановись здесь.

• здесь: here
• остановиться: to stop

Questions & Answers about Остановись здесь.

What verb form is Остановись, and what does it literally mean?

Остановись is the informal singular imperative form of the verb остановиться (to stop, to come to a stop).

• Person/number: 2nd person singular (ты)
• Mood: imperative (a command or request)
• Aspect: perfective (focus on the result: the act of stopping)
• Literal sense: “(you) stop / come to a stop”

So Остановись здесь is literally: “(You) stop here.”

Why does Остановись end in -сь? What does that mean?

The ending -сь is the reflexive ending in Russian. It attaches to verbs and usually corresponds to “oneself” or indicates that the subject is affected by its own action.

• остановить = to stop something/someone (transitive)
• остановиться = to stop oneself / to come to a stop (intransitive, reflexive)

In Остановись, the -сь shows that the subject (you) is the one coming to a stop, not stopping someone/something else.

Compare:

• Останови машину здесь. – Stop the car here. (You stop something else.)
• Остановись здесь. – Stop here. (You yourself stop here.)

What is the infinitive of Остановись, and what’s its aspect?

The infinitive is остановиться.

• остановиться – perfective, reflexive: to (come to) stop (once, as a complete action)
• Its imperfective partner is останавливаться: to be stopping, to stop (habitually, repeatedly)

For commands:

• Остановись здесь. – Stop here (this time, bring your movement to an end).
• Останавливайся здесь. – Stop here (whenever you pass here / regularly stop here).

So Остановись uses the perfective: you’re asking for one completed act of stopping, right now.

What’s the difference between Остановись, Останови, and Стой?

All can relate to stopping, but they’re different:

1. Остановись

   • From остановиться (reflexive: to come to a stop)
   • Means: “Stop (yourself), come to a stop.”
   • Used when the subject itself is moving: a person, a car (as a unit with the driver), etc.

2. Останови

   • From остановить (to stop something/someone)
   • Means: “Stop (it/him/her/them).”
   • Usually needs an object, even if implied:
     • Останови машину здесь. – Stop the car here.
     • To a bus driver, shortened: Остановите здесь, пожалуйста. (“Stop [the bus/car] here, please.” – object understood.)

3. Стой

   • From стоять (to stand)
   • Imperative: “Stand (still) / don’t move.”
   • Often used like “Stop!”, especially to people:
     • Стой здесь. – Stand here / Stay here.
   • A bit more abrupt/forceful than Остановись, depending on tone.

So:

• To a friend walking: Остановись здесь. – Stop here.
• To a friend and then keep them there: Стой здесь. – Stand here / remain here.
• To a driver (formal): Остановитесь здесь, пожалуйста. – Please stop here.

How do I make this polite or formal, e.g. for a taxi driver?

Use the formal/plural imperative (addressing вы instead of ты) and add пожалуйста (please):

• Остановитесь здесь, пожалуйста. – Please stop here.

Details:

• Остановись → informal ты (to a friend, child, someone you know well).
• Остановитесь → formal вы (to a stranger, taxi/bus driver, older person, group).

Both are grammatically correct imperatives of остановиться:

• ты: остановись
• вы: остановитесь

Why is there no ты in the sentence? Where did the subject go?

In Russian, imperatives normally omit the subject pronoun. The subject (ты or вы) is understood from the verb form itself.

So:

• (Ты) остановись здесь. → normally just Остановись здесь.
• (Вы) остановитесь здесь. → normally just Остановитесь здесь.

Adding the pronoun is possible but changes the tone:

• Ты остановись здесь. – adds emphasis to ты, often sounding emotional or corrective (e.g., contrasting with someone else or another place).

Where should I put пожалуйста if I want to say “Please stop here”?

You have several natural options. All are polite; the difference is mostly rhythm/emphasis:

• Пожалуйста, остановись здесь. – Please, stop here.
• Остановись здесь, пожалуйста. – Stop here, please.
• Formal: Пожалуйста, остановитесь здесь.
• Formal: Остановитесь здесь, пожалуйста.

In everyday speech, the most frequent for a driver is probably:

• Остановитесь, пожалуйста, здесь.
  or
• Остановитесь здесь, пожалуйста.

What’s the difference between здесь and тут? Could I say Остановись тут?

Yes, you can say Остановись тут. Both здесь and тут generally mean “here”.

Nuance:

• здесь – a bit more neutral/formal, often used in writing, standard speech.
• тут – a bit more colloquial, very common in everyday spoken Russian.

So:

• Остановись здесь. – neutral.
• Остановись тут. – slightly more casual, everyday speech.

In most everyday situations, they’re interchangeable.

Can I change the word order, for example Здесь остановись? Does it sound natural?

Yes, you can change the order, but it slightly changes the emphasis:

1. Остановись здесь. – neutral order; the most common form.
2. Здесь остановись. – emphasizes здесь (here), like: “Stop here (not somewhere else).”

Other possibilities:

• Остановись-ка здесь. – adds -ка, making it sound softer/more casual, like “Stop here, will you?”
• Вот здесь остановись. – “Stop right here.”

All are grammatically correct; the basic, default version is Остановись здесь.

Is Остановись used only for people, or can it refer to vehicles too?

It can refer to whoever or whatever is moving and is treated as the subject:

• To a person walking/running:
  
  • Остановись здесь. – Stop here.
• To a driver, speaking as if to the person (and by extension the car):
  
  • Остановитесь здесь, пожалуйста. – Please stop here.
• About a train, bus, elevator etc. in narration:
  • Поезд остановился здесь. – The train stopped here.

The key is: with остановиться (and Остановись), the one you address or talk about is the thing that comes to a stop.

How do I pronounce Остановись and здесь correctly?

Approximate pronunciation:

• Остановись: [a-sta-na-VEES']

  • Stress on the last syllable: -вись.
  • Unstressed о sounds more like a: а-ста-на-.
  • Final сь is a soft s: let your tongue move a bit toward the hard palate, like s followed by y.

• здесь: roughly [zdʲes'] / zdyes'

  • The з and д run together: зд at the start.
  • Final ь makes the с soft (s with a slight y-ish quality).

So: Остановись здесь ≈ astanavEES' zdyes' (with stress on -вись).

How would I say “Don’t stop here” instead of “Stop here”?

Use the negative imperative. For ты (informal) and вы (formal/plural) with this verb:

• Informal:
  
  • Не останавливайся здесь. – Don’t stop here.
    
    • From imperfective останавливаться.
• Formal/plural:
  
  • Не останавливайтесь здесь. – Don’t stop here.

If you mean “Don’t stand here” (don’t stay in this place), you might also hear:

• Не стой здесь. – Don’t stand here.
• Не стойте здесь. – (formal/plural)

Is the form Остановись affected by gender or number?

No. Остановись is:

• specifically 2nd person singular (ты),
• imperative form,
• and it does not change with gender.

So you use Остановись when addressing:

• one man,
• one woman,
• one child,

as long as you’re on ты terms.

For multiple people, or formal вы, you must change the verb:

• Остановитесь здесь. – addressing one person formally, or a group.