Learn Hardcore Russian: Дома я сниму пальто и ботинки. - At home I will take off my coat and boots.

Дома я сниму пальто и ботинки. – At home I’ll take off my coat and shoes.
В доме я сниму пальто и ботинки. – grammatically correct, but sounds more like “Inside the house I’ll take off my coat and shoes,” emphasizing the building rather than the idea of “home.”

In everyday speech, дома is much more natural here.

How do you pronounce дома, and does it have more than one meaning?

Yes, дома can be pronounced with different stress and mean different things:

До́ма (stress on the first syllable) – at home (adverb)
- До́ма я сниму пальто и ботинки. – At home I will take off my coat and shoes.
Домá (stress on the second syllable) – houses (plural of дом)
- В этом районе стоят новые домá. – In this area there are new houses.

In your sentence, it must be до́ма (AT home), stress on the first syllable.

Why is it сниму, not снимаю or буду снимать?

This is an aspect question.

сниму – 1st person singular future of the perfective verb снять (to take off, once, as a complete action).
снимаю – 1st person singular present (imperfective) of снимать (to be taking off, habitually / right now).
буду снимать – future (imperfective) of снимать (I will be taking off / will be in the process of taking off).

In Russian:

Perfective (снять → сниму) is used for a single, complete future action:
- Дома я сниму пальто и ботинки. – At home I will (then) take off my coat and shoes (and that will be done).
Imperfective (снимать → буду снимать) focuses on process or repeated action:
- Дома я буду снимать пальто и ботинки sounds strange here, like you’ll be engaged in an ongoing act of taking them off, which is not natural.

So сниму is chosen because taking off your coat and shoes is a single completed future action.

Which infinitive verb does сниму come from: снять or снимать?

Сниму is the 1st person singular future of снять (perfective).

Infinitive: снять – to take off (once, as a completed action)
Future (я): я сниму – I will take off

Снимать is the imperfective partner:

Infinitive: снимать – to take off (in general, repeatedly, or as a process)
Present (я): я снимаю – I am taking off / I take off
Future (я): я буду снимать – I will be taking off

In your sentence, сниму clearly comes from снять.

What cases are пальто and ботинки in, and why?

Both пальто and ботинки are direct objects of the verb сниму, so they are in the accusative case.

пальто – neuter indeclinable noun (same form in nominative and accusative):
- Nom.: пальто
- Acc.: пальто
ботинки – masculine plural, with nominative = accusative for inanimate nouns:
- Nom. plural: ботинки
- Acc. plural: ботинки (no change)

The pattern “verb + direct object” normally uses the accusative in Russian, so:

снять пальто, снять ботинки – to take off the coat, to take off the shoes

Why is there no word for “my” in пальто и ботинки? Shouldn’t it be “my coat and (my) shoes”?

Russian often omits possessive pronouns when the owner is obvious from context, especially with:

body parts
clothes and personal items
close family members

So instead of saying:

Дома я сниму моё пальто и мои ботинки.

a native simply says:

Дома я сниму пальто и ботинки.

It is automatically understood that you’re talking about your own coat and shoes. Adding моё / мои here is grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit heavy or overly explicit in a normal context.

Why is the word order Дома я сниму… and not Я сниму дома…? Does the order change the meaning?

Both orders are grammatically correct, but the nuance is different.

Дома я сниму пальто и ботинки.
- Focuses on where this will happen.
- “At home, I’ll take off my coat and shoes.”
- Very natural: дома sets the scene first (location), then comes the action.
Я сниму пальто и ботинки дома.
- Sounds like you’re specifying where you’ll take them off, possibly in contrast to somewhere else (not in the car, not at work, but at home).
- Slight emphasis on “at home” as contrastive information.

In everyday speech, starting with Дома is very typical and neutral here.

What is the difference between дома and домой?

They answer different questions:

дома – “at home” – answers where? (где?):
- Я дома. – I am at home.
- Дома я сниму пальто и ботинки. – At home I’ll take off my coat and shoes.
домой – “(to) home” – answers where to? (куда?):
- Я иду домой. – I am going home.
- Когда я приду домой, я сниму пальто и ботинки. – When I come home, I’ll take off my coat and shoes.

In your sentence, you’re already at home, so дома, not домой.

Why is it ботинки and not a more general word for “shoes”?

Ботинки is a specific type of shoe: ankle-high shoes / boots, typically everyday shoes that cover the ankle or are close to it.

A few common footwear words:

ботинки – ankle boots / sturdy shoes
туфли – dress shoes (often women’s, but also formal men’s shoes)
кроссовки – sneakers
обувь – footwear (general, uncountable)

So ботинки suggests a specific type of everyday shoes/boots, not just any shoes in general. The speaker is likely referring to that type of footwear.

Why is there no article like “a” or “the” in this sentence?

Russian has no articles (no direct equivalents of a/an/the). The definiteness or indefiniteness is usually clear from:

context
word order
whether something is already known or newly introduced

Дома я сниму пальто и ботинки.
can mean:

At home I’ll take off my coat and shoes.
At home I’ll take off a coat and (some) shoes.

But in a normal everyday context, listeners will naturally understand it as “my coat and (my) shoes.” Articles are simply not used to mark this in Russian.

Could I say Я сниму с себя пальто и ботинки instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Дома я сниму с себя пальто и ботинки.

Adding с себя literally means “off myself” and makes the idea even more explicit: you are removing these items from your own body.

Nuance:

Я сниму пальто и ботинки. – perfectly normal and enough in most situations.
Я сниму с себя пальто и ботинки. – stronger focus on the act of taking them off your body; can sound a bit more vivid or emphatic.

In everyday speech, without с себя is more common unless you need that extra emphasis.

Is и here just the normal word for “and”? Any special punctuation rules?

Yes, и is the basic coordinating conjunction meaning “and.”

In the phrase:

пальто и ботинки

you are simply joining two direct objects of the same verb. No comma is needed before и when it connects just two items in a simple list.

Examples:

Я купил хлеб и молоко. – I bought bread and milk.
Я сниму пальто и ботинки. – I’ll take off my coat and shoes.

A comma would appear if there were three or more items, depending on the structure:

Я сниму пальто, ботинки и шапку. – I’ll take off my coat, shoes, and hat.