Learn Hardcore Russian: Учитель приводит простой пример.

Using приводить with пример emphasizes bringing in an example to illustrate or support an explanation, not physically bringing something into the room.

What is the difference between приводит and приведёт / привёл? Is it about aspect?

Yes, the difference is about aspect and tense.

приводить – imperfective aspect
- “to be giving / to give (habitually)”
- Present: он/она приводит = “he/she gives / is giving (an example)”
привести – perfective aspect
- “to give (one finished act), to have given”
- Future: он/она приведёт = “he/she will give (an example)”
- Past: он привёл, она привела = “he gave / she gave (an example)”

In your sentence:

Учитель приводит простой пример
Focus: the process or the current action / general habit:
“The teacher is giving / gives a simple example.”

If you said:

Учитель привёл простой пример.
Focus: the action is completed in the past:
“The teacher gave a simple example.”

Why is it учитель приводит, not учителя приводит? What case is учитель in?

Учитель is in the nominative case, masculine singular.

Учитель – nominative singular (subject form)
Учителя can be:
- genitive singular (“of the teacher”),
- accusative singular (rare, mostly for living things in some contexts),
- OR nominative plural (“teachers”).

In the sentence Учитель приводит простой пример:

Учитель is the subject (the one doing the action), so it must be in the nominative.
Therefore, учитель, not учителя.

What case are простой and пример in, and how do we know?

Простой пример is in the accusative case, masculine inanimate singular.

Reason:

The verb приводит is being done to something → that “something” is the direct object.
The direct object of a verb normally goes into the accusative case.

Forms:

Nominative: простой пример – “a simple example” (as the subject)
Accusative (inanimate): also простой пример – same form as nominative

Masculine inanimate nouns in Russian usually have the same form in nominative and accusative. So you know it’s accusative because of the function in the sentence (object of the verb), not from the ending.

Why is it простой and not простаЯ or простОГО? How does agreement work here?

The adjective must agree with the noun in:

gender
number
case

The noun пример is:

masculine
singular
accusative (but inanimate → form = nominative)

So the adjective простой matches:

masculine
singular
nominative/accusative

Other forms would be:

простая – feminine singular (e.g. простая задача – “a simple task”)
простого – masculine singular genitive (e.g. нет простого примера – “there is no simple example”)

So простой пример is the correct form for “simple example” as a direct object here.

How is приводит conjugated? What is the full present tense paradigm of приводить?

Приводить is an imperfective verb. Present tense:

я привожу – I bring / give (an example)
ты приводишь – you bring / give (informal singular)
он / она / оно приводит – he / she / it brings / gives
мы приводим – we bring / give
вы приводите – you bring / give (formal or plural)
они приводят – they bring / give

In the sentence Учитель приводит простой пример, приводит is 3rd person singular (he/she/it), matching учитель (he).

Can I change the word order? For example: Простой пример приводит учитель. Does it change the meaning?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but it can change emphasis.

Учитель приводит простой пример.
Neutral: “The teacher gives a simple example.”
Normal focus, subject–verb–object order.
Простой пример приводит учитель.
Sounds marked and a bit unusual in isolation. It can emphasize who gives the simple example (the teacher, not someone else), or fit into a larger context where простой пример is already known.

In most neutral contexts, the original word order is best:

Учитель приводит простой пример.

How do you pronounce this sentence correctly, including stress?

Pronunciation with stressed syllables in bold (capital letters indicate stress):

УчИтель – [oo-CHEE-tyel’]
Stress on -чи-.
приводИт – [pr’i-va-DEET]
Stress on -ди-. The о is unstressed and sounds like “a”: [pr’i-va-DEET].
простОй – [pras-TOY]
Stress on -той.
примЕр – [pree-MYER]
Stress on -мер.

Full sentence:
УчИтель приводИт простОй примЕр.

All final consonants are pronounced clearly; there is no strong reduction of final sounds like in English.

Could I use another verb instead of приводит, like даёт or показывает? Would it sound natural?

Yes, you can use other verbs, but they change the nuance slightly:

Учитель даёт простой пример.
Literally: “The teacher gives a simple example.”
Grammatically okay and understandable. However, the more idiomatic phrase in Russian is приводить пример, especially in explanatory or academic contexts.
Учитель показывает простой пример.
“The teacher shows a simple example.”
Emphasizes the visual or demonstrative aspect (e.g., on the board or screen).

The most standard, idiomatic collocation is:

приводить пример – to give/provide/cite an example.

Can Учитель приводит простой пример be translated as “A teacher…” or must it be “The teacher…”?

Russian does not have articles (“a / the”), so Учитель can be translated in different ways depending on context:

“The teacher gives a simple example.”
If you are talking about a specific, known teacher.
“A teacher gives a simple example.”
If you mean any teacher in general.
“The teacher is giving a simple example.”
If you want to stress the ongoing action in English.

The Russian sentence itself is neutral; English articles are chosen based on what you mean in context, not on extra words in Russian.