Learn Hardcore Russian: Даже маленькие ежедневные усилия постепенно укрепляют уверенность в себе. - Even small daily efforts gradually strengthen self‑confidence.

Даже means “even” and emphasizes that small efforts (not just big ones) also have an effect.
In this sentence it highlights that маленькие ежедневные усилия are enough to strengthen confidence.

Most natural position is before the word or phrase it emphasizes:

Даже маленькие ежедневные усилия… – even small daily efforts (not only big ones)
Маленькие ежедневные усилия даже постепенно укрепляют уверенность… – more unusual; sounds like “they even gradually strengthen…” (not very natural here)

So: keep даже directly before what you want to stress. Here, it’s the маленькие ежедневные усилия.

Why are маленькие and ежедневные in the form ending in -ие?

They agree with усилия in gender, number and case:

усилие – neuter, singular, nominative: an effort
усилия – neuter, plural, nominative: efforts

Adjectives must match that:

маленькие – plural nominative (all genders)
ежедневные – plural nominative (all genders)

Because усилия is the subject (nominative plural), both adjectives also take nominative plural: маленькие ежедневные усилия.

Why is усилия plural here? Could you say it in the singular?

Усилия is plural because we’re talking about repeated, many small efforts over time, not one single effort.

усилие – one effort
усилия – efforts, a series of efforts

You could say Даже маленькое ежедневное усилие…, but it sounds slightly odd: “even one small daily effort”. In real usage, Russian prefers plural here because the idea is “the small things you do every day, again and again.”

What is the infinitive of укрепляют, and what tense/aspect is it?

The verb is:

Infinitive: укреплять (imperfective) – to strengthen, to reinforce
3rd person plural present: они укрепляют – they strengthen / they are strengthening

In the sentence:

усилия укрепляют – the efforts strengthen

It’s present tense, imperfective, describing a general, repeated effect, not a single completed action. If you used perfective future (укрепят), it would sound like “will strengthen (once / to completion).”

Why is it укрепляют, not укрепляет?

Because the subject is plural:

Subject: маленькие ежедневные усилия → они (they)
Verb must match: они укрепляют

If the subject were singular, it would be:

Маленькое ежедневное усилие постепенно укрепляет уверенность в себе.

So:
они укрепляют (they strengthen) vs. он/она/оно укрепляет (he/she/it strengthens).

What part of speech is постепенно, and why does it go before the verb?

Постепенно is an adverb, meaning “gradually”.

It describes how the efforts strengthen confidence, so it modifies the verb укрепляют.
Typical positions:

…усилия постепенно укрепляют уверенность… – very natural
…усилия укрепляют уверенность постепенно… – possible, but puts more focus on “gradually” and can sound slightly heavier

Default, most neutral choice is before the verb: постепенно укрепляют.

What is the difference between ежедневные and saying каждый день?

Both relate to something happening every day, but they work differently grammatically:

ежедневные усилия – adjective + noun → “daily efforts”
усилия каждый день – noun + adverbial phrase → “efforts (made) every day”

Subtle nuance:

ежедневные усилия sounds more compact and slightly more “bookish” or written.
усилия каждый день is a little more conversational:
Даже маленькие усилия каждый день постепенно укрепляют уверенность в себе.

Both are correct. The original just chooses the adjective form.

What does уверенность mean exactly, and what case is it in here?

Уверенность means “confidence” or “self-confidence” (depending on context).

The form уверенность here is:

feminine, singular
accusative case (direct object of the verb)

Structure:

укрепляют что? – strengthen what? → уверенность

Feminine 3rd-declension nouns like уверенность have the same form in nominative and accusative singular, so it looks like nominative, but here it functions as accusative.

What does the phrase уверенность в себе literally mean, and why do we need в себе?

Literally, уверенность в себе means “confidence in oneself”.

уверенность – confidence
в – in
себе – “oneself” in the prepositional case

In Russian, to say “self-confidence” in a natural way, you very often say уверенность в себе, not just уверенность on its own.

Compare:

уверенность в себе – confidence in yourself / self-confidence
уверенность в ком-то – confidence in someone else

So в себе is necessary here to express that the confidence is directed toward yourself.

What is себе grammatically? Why not себя?

The basic reflexive pronoun is себя, but it changes by case, like other pronouns:

Nominative – (doesn’t exist)
Accusative / Genitive – себя
Dative – себе
Prepositional – о себе / в себе

After the preposition в, when it means “in” (location, state), you use prepositional case:

в ком? в чём? → в себе – in oneself

So here себе is prepositional case of the reflexive pronoun, required by в in this meaning.

How is уверенность в себе different from самоуверенность?

Both relate to “self-confidence,” but they are not the same:

уверенность в себе – neutral or positive:
healthy self-confidence, trust in your own abilities.
самоуверенность – often negative:
overconfidence, cockiness, being too sure of yourself.

So this sentence talks about building healthy confidence (уверенность в себе), not arrogance.

Could I say Даже маленькие ежедневные усилия понемногу укрепляют уверенность в себе instead of постепенно?

Yes, and it would still be correct and natural.

постепенно – gradually, step by step over time
понемногу – little by little, a bit at a time

They are close in meaning here.
Постепенно puts slightly more emphasis on the process over time,
понемногу emphasizes doing small amounts.

Is any other word order possible, or is this fixed?

Russian word order is flexible. Some alternatives:

Маленькие ежедневные усилия даже постепенно укрепляют уверенность в себе. – shifts emphasis, a bit clunky.
Постепенно даже маленькие ежедневные усилия укрепляют уверенность в себе. – emphasizes the gradual nature first.
Даже маленькие ежедневные усилия укрепляют уверенность в себе постепенно. – possible, but ending with постепенно sounds heavier.

The original order is the most natural and neutral. The main rule: keep related words relatively close, and don’t separate даже from what it emphasizes.

Why isn’t the verb reflexive, like укрепляются? Don’t efforts “strengthen themselves”?

In this sentence, the efforts are the subject, and уверенность is the object:

усилия (что делают?) укрепляют уверенность (что?)

So the efforts are strengthening something else – your confidence.

A reflexive form укрепляются would mean “are being strengthened” or “strengthen themselves,” which would change the meaning:

усилия постепенно укрепляются – “the efforts themselves are gradually being strengthened” (odd here)

We want “efforts strengthen confidence,” so the non‑reflexive укрепляют is correct.

How do you pronounce this sentence? Where are the stresses?

Stresses (capital letters show the stressed syllable):

Да́же – DA-zhe
ма́ленькие – MA-len’-ki-ye
ежедне́вные – ye-zhe-DNYEV-ny-ye
усИлия – oo-SI-lee-ya
постепЕнно – pas-tee-PYEN-na
укреплЯют – oo-kryep-LYA-yut
увЕренность – oo-VYE-re-nnast’
в себе́ – v see-BYE

Spoken smoothly:
Да́же ма́ленькие ежедневныe усИлия постепЕнно укреплЯют увЕренность в себе́.