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Не наливай кипяток в кружку сразу, подожди минуту.

Не наливай кипяток в кружку сразу, подожди минуту.
Don’t pour boiling water into the mug right away; wait a minute.

Breakdown of Не наливай кипяток в кружку сразу, подожди минуту.

не
not
подождать
to wait
минута
the minute
кружка
the mug
в
into
наливать
to pour
сразу
right away
кипяток
boiling water
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Questions & Answers about Не наливай кипяток в кружку сразу, подожди минуту.

Why is it не наливай and not не налей?

With negative commands in Russian, the imperfective imperative is very common/preferred: не наливай = don’t be pouring / don’t pour (in general / at this moment).
Не налей (perfective) exists, but it often sounds more like don’t end up pouring / don’t accidentally pour, or it can feel more abrupt/marked depending on context. For everyday advice like this, не наливай is the natural choice.

What’s the difference between наливай and налей without не?
  • Наливай! (imperfective) can mean pour (some), keep pouring, go ahead and pour—it’s less focused on a single completed result and can sound more “process” or “casual/inviting.”
  • Налей! (perfective) means pour (and finish that action)—a single, completed pour is emphasized.
Why is it в кружку (accusative) and not в кружке?

Because в + accusative is used with motion/transfer into somewhere:

  • наливать в кружку = to pour into a mug (direction/result)
    If you describe location (no motion), you use в + prepositional:
  • в кружке = in the mug (already there)
What exactly does кипяток mean? Is it literally “boiling water”?
Кипяток is boiling water / freshly boiled water, often meaning very hot water straight from a kettle. In everyday speech it can mean scalding-hot water, even if it’s not actively bubbling at that moment.
Why is there no word for “some” or “the” (like English articles)?
Russian has no articles, so кипяток can be understood from context as (the) boiling water or some boiling water. If you want to add nuance, Russian uses other tools (word order, context, or words like этот = “this,” немного = “a little”).
What does сразу mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Сразу means immediately / right away / all at once.
In this sentence, в кружку сразу is natural: don’t pour it into the mug right away. You could also place it earlier for emphasis:

  • Не наливай сразу кипяток в кружку… (emphasis on “right away”)
Why is there a comma, and is this one sentence or two?

It’s one sentence with two commands (two imperatives):
1) Не наливай…
2) подожди минуту
The comma separates the two imperative clauses, like English: Don’t…, wait…

Why is it подожди and not жди?

Both relate to “wait,” but they differ in aspect and typical usage:

  • подожди (perfective, from подождать) is the most common for wait a bit / wait for a short time or hold on.
  • жди (imperfective, from ждать) can sound more like be waiting (ongoing) and is less common as a standalone everyday “wait a moment” command.
Why is it минуту (accusative)? Shouldn’t it be минута?

After verbs like подождать, a duration is often expressed with the accusative: подожди минуту = wait (for) a minute.
Минута is nominative (the dictionary form) and wouldn’t fit this duration pattern here.

Does минуту mean exactly 60 seconds, or can it mean “a moment”?
Very often it’s not literal. Подожди минуту can mean wait a minute in the English sense: hold on / give me a moment. If you want a more explicitly “moment” feel, speakers also use минутку (diminutive): Подожди минутку.
Is this sentence informal? How do I say it politely/formally?

Yes: наливай / подожди are ты-commands (informal, to one person you address as ты).
Formal/polite (вы) would be:

  • Не наливайте кипяток в кружку сразу, подождите минуту.
Why does кипяток not change form here? What case is it?

Here кипяток is the direct object of (не) наливай, so it’s in the accusative. For masculine inanimate nouns, accusative equals nominative, so it looks unchanged:

  • nominative: кипяток
  • accusative (inanimate): кипяток
    You can see the difference with something like чай vs чаю in some contexts, but кипяток stays the same here.