Не стоит ехать быстро, если дорога мокрая.

not

Breakdown of Не стоит ехать быстро, если дорога мокрая.

• если: if
• быстро: fast
• ехать: to drive

Questions & Answers about Не стоит ехать быстро, если дорога мокрая.

What does не стоит literally mean, and why is it used here?

Стоит literally means costs / is worth (it). In the impersonal expression не стоит + infinitive, it means it’s not worth (doing) → often naturally translated as you shouldn’t / it’s not a good idea to.

So Не стоит ехать быстро is an idiomatic way to advise against doing something, without directly commanding anyone.

---

Why is стоит in the 3rd person singular and not agreeing with anyone?

Because не стоит here is an impersonal construction. There is no grammatical subject like he/she/you in the sentence. Russian often uses this pattern:

• (Не) стоит + infinitive = (not) worth doing / (not) advisable to do

So стоит stays in the default 3rd person singular form.

---

Why do we use the infinitive ехать after не стоит?

After не стоит, Russian typically uses an infinitive to name the action being evaluated:

• Не стоит + (что делать?) ехать, говорить, покупать, etc.

Here ехать answers что делать? (what to do).

---