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Вечером я снова держалась за перила и думала, что их тоже пора отремонтировать.

Вечером я снова держалась за перила и думала, что их тоже пора отремонтировать.
In the evening I held onto the handrails again and thought it’s time to fix them too.

Breakdown of Вечером я снова держалась за перила и думала, что их тоже пора отремонтировать.

я
I
и
and
что
that
вечером
in the evening
снова
again
думать
to think
их
them
отремонтировать
to repair
тоже
too
пора
it’s time
держаться за
to hold onto
перила
the handrails
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Questions & Answers about Вечером я снова держалась за перила и думала, что их тоже пора отремонтировать.

Why is держалась in the feminine form, and what would it be for a man?

Держалась is past tense feminine singular, because the speaker is a woman (or a feminine narrator).

  • Feminine: я держалась
  • Masculine: я держался
  • Plural (we/they): мы держались / они держались
What does держаться за mean, and why is it not just держать?

Держаться за + Accusative means to hold on to / cling to (something), often for support or stability. It’s reflexive (-ся) and focuses on yourself keeping hold.
Держать is simply to hold (something) in your hands/control, more like actively holding an object.

Compare:

  • Я держал(а) перила. = I was holding the railing (as an object).
  • Я держал(а)сь за перила. = I was holding on to the railing (for support).
Why is it за перила (accusative) and not another preposition/case?

With держаться, Russian commonly uses за + accusative to express what you’re holding onto:

  • держаться за что? → за перила

Перила is a plural noun, and after за (for “hold on to”), it takes accusative; for inanimate plurals, accusative = nominative in form, so it stays перила.

What is перила exactly, and why is it plural?

Перила means railing / handrail / banister (often the whole set of rails). It’s a plural-only noun in Russian (pluralia tantum), so you normally say:

  • перила (plural) = railing(s) Singular forms are not normally used in everyday language for this word.
Why does Russian say Вечером and not something like “in the evening” with a preposition?

Russian often uses the instrumental case without a preposition to mean “in the (time period)”:

  • утром = in the morning
  • днём = in the daytime
  • вечером = in the evening
  • ночью = at night

So Вечером is a natural “time adverb” form.

What does снова imply here, and where can it go in the sentence?

снова = again. It suggests this has happened before (she had already held onto the railing previously).
Its placement is flexible, but it usually sits near the verb it modifies:

  • Вечером я снова держалась… (again held on)
  • Вечером я держалась… и снова думала… (again thought)

In your sentence, снова most naturally modifies держалась.

Why is there a comma before и in …держалась за перила и думала…?

There is no comma before и here because it connects two verbs that share the same subject я:

  • я держалась и (я) думала

So it’s one coordinated predicate pair within the same clause.

Why is there a comma before что?

Because что introduces a subordinate clause (reported thought/content clause):

  • думала, что… = thought that…

Russian requires a comma before such subordinate clauses.

What does их refer to, and why is it их (not его/её/их based on gender)?

их refers back to перила (railings).
их is the genitive/accusative plural form of the 3rd-person pronoun (“them/their”), and it does not change for gender—only for number and case.

Here it functions like “them” (object of repairing):

  • пора отремонтировать (кого/что?) их = time to repair them
What is the role of тоже in что их тоже пора отремонтировать?

тоже = also / too. It indicates the railings are an additional item on a mental “repair list.”
Sense: “that it’s time to repair them too (as well)”—i.e., not only something else.

Position is fairly flexible, but here it naturally attaches to the idea they also need repair.

How does пора + infinitive work? Where is the subject?

пора is an impersonal predicate meaning “it’s time”. The structure is:

  • пора + infinitive = it’s time to do (something)

There is no grammatical subject like “it” in Russian; it’s just an impersonal construction:

  • пора отремонтировать = it’s time to repair

If you want to add who should do it, you can use a dative:

  • мне пора… = it’s time for me to…
  • нам пора… = it’s time for us to…
Why is отремонтировать perfective, and could it be ремонтировать?

отремонтировать is perfective: it focuses on completing the repair (a finished result). With пора, perfective is very common because you mean “time to get it done.”

ремонтировать (imperfective) would sound more like “time to be repairing / time to start doing repairs” and is less result-focused. Both are possible, but пора отремонтировать is the most natural for “it needs to be fixed (properly).”

Could the word order be changed, and what would it emphasize?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible and changes emphasis.

Examples:

  • Вечером я снова держалась за перила… (neutral: sets time first)
  • Я вечером снова держалась за перила… (slightly emphasizes я)
  • …и думала, что пора отремонтировать и их. (emphasizes “them too” at the end)

The original is very natural: time → subject → actions → thought clause.