На этом перекрёстке нельзя обгонять.

You must not overtake at this intersection.

Breakdown of На этом перекрёстке нельзя обгонять.

• на: at
• этот: this
• обгонять: to overtake
• нельзя: can’t
• перекрёсток: intersection

Questions & Answers about На этом перекрёстке нельзя обгонять.

Why is it на этом перекрёстке and not в этом перекрёстке?

Russian uses different prepositions for location depending on how a place is conceptualized.

• на + Prepositional is common for open areas / surfaces / “sites” like на улице (on the street), на площади (in the square), на мосту (on the bridge), and also на перекрёстке (at the intersection).
• в + Prepositional is more for enclosed spaces (in a room, in a building, etc.).
  So на этом перекрёстке is the standard, natural choice for “at this intersection.”

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What case is этом перекрёстке, and why?

It’s Prepositional case (also called “locative” in some contexts), triggered by the preposition на when it means location.

• этот перекрёсток (Nominative)
• на этом перекрёстке (Prepositional)
  You can recognize Prepositional here by этом and the ending -е in перекрёстке.

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Why does этот become этом?

Because adjectives/pronouns agree with the noun in case, number, and gender.

• перекрёсток is masculine singular.
• After на (location), it needs Prepositional.
  So этот → этом to match перекрёстке.

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What does нельзя literally mean, and how does it work grammatically?

нельзя is an impersonal predicative word meaning “it’s not allowed / it’s impossible / one must not,” depending on context. It often introduces a general rule and doesn’t have a subject.
Pattern: нельзя + infinitive
So нельзя обгонять = “(it is) forbidden to overtake.”

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Why is обгонять an infinitive and not a conjugated verb?

Because нельзя typically combines with an infinitive to express prohibition in a general, impersonal way. There’s no explicit “you/we/they” subject.
If you wanted a direct command to a person, you could use an imperative instead (different style): Не обгоняйте! = “Don’t overtake!”

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Why is it обгонять (imperfective) and not обогнать (perfective)?

With rules and prohibitions, Russian usually uses the imperfective infinitive to mean “not allowed to do this in general / at any time here.”

• нельзя обгонять = “overtaking is not allowed (as an activity here).”
  нельзя обогнать is possible in some contexts but tends to sound more like “it’s impossible / you can’t manage to overtake (successfully)” or a more specific one-time situation, not a general rule on a road sign.

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Is this sentence more like a road sign / rule, or everyday conversation?

It strongly sounds like a rule/sign/instruction (traffic context). The structure На … нельзя + infinitive is very common for posted rules:

• Здесь нельзя парковаться (Parking is not allowed here)
• Входить нельзя (Do not enter)

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Could I also say На этом перекрёстке не разрешается обгонять? Is there a difference?

Yes, that’s grammatical. Differences are mainly stylistic:

• нельзя обгонять is shorter and very natural for signs and spoken warnings.
• не разрешается обгонять is more formal/official (“is not permitted”).
  Meaning is essentially the same here.

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What’s the stress and pronunciation of перекрёстке, and why is ё important?

The stress is: перекрЁстке.
The letter ё is always stressed in standard Russian, and it’s pronounced yo (like yoh). In many texts ё is often written as е, but pronunciation remains ё: you may see перекрестке written, but it’s still pronounced перекрёстке.

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Can the word order change? For example, Обгонять на этом перекрёстке нельзя?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible and changes emphasis:

• На этом перекрёстке нельзя обгонять. Neutral: “At this intersection, overtaking is not allowed.”
• Обгонять на этом перекрёстке нельзя. Emphasizes обгонять (“Overtaking—at this intersection—is not allowed.”)
  Both are correct; the first is more typical as a sign-like statement.

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Does на этом перекрёстке mean “on this intersection” or “at this intersection”?

Even though на often translates as “on,” the natural English equivalent here is at this intersection. Russian на covers several English prepositions depending on the noun and context, and на перекрёстке conventionally means “at the intersection.”