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Возьми этот инструмент с собой, если собираешься помогать сестре с ремонтом.

Возьми этот инструмент с собой, если собираешься помогать сестре с ремонтом.
Take this tool with you if you’re going to help your sister with repairs.

Breakdown of Возьми этот инструмент с собой, если собираешься помогать сестре с ремонтом.

с
with
сестра
the sister
если
if
помогать
to help
этот
this
ремонт
the repair
взять
to take
собираться
to be going to
собой
oneself
инструмент
the tool
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Questions & Answers about Возьми этот инструмент с собой, если собираешься помогать сестре с ремонтом.

Why is возьми used here, and what tense/mood is it?

Возьми is the imperative (command/request) form of the verb взять (to take). It’s addressing you (singular, informal) and means Take (it)!
It’s from the perfective verb взять, which in imperatives often implies a single completed action (take it once / take it along).

What would be the polite or plural version of возьми?

The polite (or plural “you all”) imperative is возьмите:
Возьмите этот инструмент с собой… = Take this tool with you… (polite / to more than one person).

Could I say бери instead of возьми? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

  • возьми (perfective) = take it (once), make sure you take it
  • бери (imperfective imperative of брать) = can sound more like go ahead, take it, or take it (in general / habitually)
    In practical speech, возьми с собой is extremely common for “take with you (don’t forget).”
Why is it этот инструмент (not some other form)? What case is it?

Этот инструмент is in the accusative because взять/возьми takes a direct object (“take what?”).
For an inanimate masculine noun like инструмент, the accusative looks the same as the nominative:

  • Nom: этот инструмент
  • Acc: этот инструмент
What exactly does с собой mean, and why is it phrased that way?

С собой is a fixed expression meaning with you / along (with you). It’s very common after verbs of taking/carrying:

  • взять с собой = to take along
  • нести с собой = to carry along
    Literally it’s “with oneself,” but in English you usually translate it as with you.
Why is it с собой and not с тебе / с тобой?

Russian doesn’t usually say “take with you” using с тобой in this meaning. С собой is the idiomatic phrase meaning “along (on your person / accompanying you).”
С тобой more often means “together with you” as a companion:

  • Я пойду с тобой. = I’ll go with you (together). But for “take X with you,” it’s normally возьми X с собой.
What does если собираешься mean, and what verb is собираешься?

Если собираешься… means if you’re planning/intending to…
Собираешься is the 2nd person singular present form of собираться (a reflexive verb meaning to plan / intend / be about to).

Why is собираться reflexive (ending in -ся)?

In Russian, собираться is simply the standard verb for “to be going to / to intend.” The -ся is part of the verb’s dictionary form and doesn’t translate as a separate word in English here.
Compare:

  • собирать = to gather/collect (something)
  • собираться = to gather (people gather), or (very commonly) to plan/intend
Why is помогать used (imperfective), not a perfective verb?

Помогать is typically used in the imperfective because “helping” is viewed as an ongoing process/activity, not a single completed event. Russian doesn’t use a simple perfective counterpart as naturally here the way English might treat “help” as countable.
So собираешься помогать = “are you planning to help (as an activity).”

Why is it помогать сестре (dative)? Why not accusative?

The verb помогать requires the person being helped in the dative case (help to someone):

  • помогать кому? → сестре (dative of сестра)
    So помогать сестре = to help (your) sister.
Why is it с ремонтом and why is ремонтом in that form?

С ремонтом means with the repair/renovation work. After the preposition с meaning “with,” Russian uses the instrumental case, so:

  • ремонт (nom.) → ремонтом (instr.)
    This is a standard pattern: помогать с чем?
    • instrumental = “help with what?”
Can the word order change? For example, can I move если… to the beginning?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible. These are both natural:

  • Возьми этот инструмент с собой, если собираешься… (main clause first)
  • Если собираешься помогать сестре с ремонтом, возьми этот инструмент с собой. (condition first)
    If the если-clause comes first, it’s typically followed by a comma, just like in English.