Learn Hardcore Russian: Я стараюсь делать маленький перерывчик каждые сорок минут. - I try to take a little break every forty minutes.

Я стараюсь делать маленький перерывчик…
- делать (imperfective) focuses on the regular, repeated action.
- This matches the idea of a habit or routine: you try to regularly take small breaks.
Я стараюсь сделать маленький перерывчик…
- сделать (perfective) focuses on achieving a single, concrete result (to succeed in taking a break at least once).
- This would be used more in a specific situation: “I’m trying to (manage to) take a short break (this time).”

Since the sentence talks about something you do every 40 minutes, the imperfective (делать) is the natural choice.

What is the difference between стараюсь and пытаюсь?

Both mean something like “I try”, but they’re not interchangeable in every context:

стараюсь (from стараться)
- Implies effort, diligence, doing your best.
- Often used for habits, good behavior, self‑discipline:
  - Я стараюсь правильно питаться. – I try to eat properly.
  - Я стараюсь не опаздывать. – I try not to be late.
пытаюсь (from пытаться)
- More like “I’m attempting / making an attempt,” often in a specific situation.
- Neutral about whether it’s about good behavior; can be more about whether something is possible or not:
  - Я пытаюсь открыть дверь. – I’m trying to open the door.
  - Я пытаюсь это понять. – I’m trying to understand this.

In your sentence, Я стараюсь делать маленький перерывчик… sounds like “I make an effort / I discipline myself to take these breaks regularly,” which fits well with a routine or healthy habit.
Я пытаюсь делать… is possible but would sound more like “I’m struggling to manage to do this.”

Why is it делать перерывчик and not a special verb like “перерываться”?

Russian often uses делать + noun where English would use a single verb:

делать перерыв – to take a break
делать ошибку – to make a mistake
делать зарядку – to do exercises / work out

So делать маленький перерывчик literally = “to do/make a little break”, but idiomatically = “to take a little break.”

There is a verb перерываться, but:

it’s reflexive and often means “to be interrupted / to be broken off,” not simply “to take a break.”
you wouldn’t normally say я перерываюсь in the sense of “I take a break.” The natural expression is делать перерыв (or here, перерывчик).

What nuance does перерывчик have compared to перерыв?

Перерывчик is a diminutive of перерыв:

перерыв – a break, pause (neutral)
перерывчик – a little break

Nuances of перерывчик:

Often implies short duration (“a quick break”).
Can sound more informal, friendly, or soft, not technical or official.
Sometimes adds a feeling of something pleasant or welcome (like a nice little rest).

So:

Я делаю перерыв каждые сорок минут. – neutral, factual.
Я делаю маленький перерывчик каждые сорок минут. – sounds more casual and slightly more emotional, like “I try to take a little break every forty minutes.”

Why is it маленький перерывчик and not маленькое перерывчик?

In Russian, adjectives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify.

перерыв is masculine.
перерывчик is still masculine (it just has a diminutive suffix).

So:

masculine nominative singular: маленький
feminine: маленькая
neuter: маленькое

Since перерывчик is masculine singular in the accusative case and refers to an inanimate object, the form is the same as nominative:

маленький перерывчик

“маленькое перерывчик” would be wrong because маленькое is neuter, but перерывчик is not neuter.

Why is it маленький, not малый?

Both малый and маленький can have the idea of “small,” but:

маленький – the normal, everyday adjective for physically small or short in duration.
- маленький дом – a small house
- маленький перерыв – a short break
малый is:
- more formal / literary, or
- used in set expressions (e.g. малая родина, малые предприятия),
- can sometimes mean “young” or “not big” in a more abstract sense.

In spoken Russian, for a short break, маленький перерывчик is natural and informal. Малый перерыв would sound unusual here, especially with the diminutive перерывчик.

Why do we say каждые сорок минут and not something like каждый сорок минут?

Каждый / каждая / каждое / каждые must agree with the grammatical form of what it refers to:

каждый – masculine singular
каждая – feminine singular
каждое – neuter singular
каждые – plural

Here, we’re talking about сорок минут (“forty minutes”), which is grammatically plural, so we use каждые:

каждые сорок минут – every forty minutes

You cannot say каждый сорок минут, because:

сорок минут is not singular; it’s a plural quantity phrase.
So каждый (singular) would clash grammatically.

Compare:

каждую минуту – every minute
каждые пять минут – every five minutes
каждые сорок минут – every forty minutes

What cases are used in каждые сорок минут? Why is it минут, not минуты?

There are two key elements:

каждые
- It is the accusative plural form of каждый.
- We use accusative because the phrase functions like an adverbial of time: “every X [period].”
сорок минут
- Russian numerals govern specific cases:
  - with numbers 5–20, 25–30, 35–40, etc., the counted noun is in genitive plural.
- After сорок, the word минута goes into genitive plural: минут.

So:

сорок минут – forty minutes (with минут in genitive plural)
But the whole phrase каждые сорок минут is in the accusative because of каждые, used as an adverbial of time.

That’s why you see минут, not минуты.

Could I say через каждые сорок минут? How is it different?

Yes, you can say:

Я стараюсь делать маленький перерывчик через каждые сорок минут.

Difference in nuance:

каждые сорок минут
- Already means “every forty minutes”.
- This is the most natural and common phrasing for a regular interval.
через каждые сорок минут
- Literally: “through every forty minutes,” but idiomatically also “at intervals of forty minutes.”
- Feels slightly more explicit, sometimes a bit heavier, and is often found in more technical, instructional, or official speech.

In everyday conversation, каждые сорок минут is usually enough and sounds smoother.

Why is the verb стараюсь in the present tense if I mean a general habit (like English “I try” / “I’m trying”)?

In Russian, the present tense of imperfective verbs is used both for:

Right now actions:
- Я сейчас читаю. – I’m reading right now.
Regular, habitual actions:
- Я читаю каждый день. – I read every day.

So:

Я стараюсь делать маленький перерывчик каждые сорок минут.
= “I try (as a general rule / habit) to take a small break every forty minutes.”

You don’t need a special progressive form like English “I’m trying”; the simple present of the imperfective verb expresses both ongoing and habitual actions, and the context (and words like каждые сорок минут) makes it clear it’s a habit.

What does the -сь / -ся on стараюсь mean? Why not just я стараю?

The -сь / -ся ending marks a reflexive verb in Russian.

The base verb is старать, but it is not used on its own in modern standard Russian.
The normal verb is стараться (reflexive), meaning “to try, to make an effort.”

Conjugation:

я стараюсь – I try
ты стараешься – you try
он/она старается – he/she tries
etc.

There is no form я стараю with the same meaning.
So you must use the reflexive verb стараться: я стараюсь, мы стараемся, etc.

Can I change the word order, like Я стараюсь каждые сорок минут делать маленький перерывчик? Is it still correct?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct and natural:

Я стараюсь делать маленький перерывчик каждые сорок минут.
Я стараюсь каждые сорок минут делать маленький перерывчик.

Both mean the same thing. The differences are very subtle:

The first version flows as: I try *to take a small break every forty minutes.*
The second slightly highlights the frequency: I try *every forty minutes to take a small break.*

In normal speech, both are fine; the difference is more about rhythm and emphasis than meaning.