Когда чернила высохли, учительница дала мне другую ручку и попросила переписать заголовок аккуратнее.

In Russian, чернила is normally a plural-only noun. That means it looks grammatically plural even though in English ink is usually treated as singular.

Because of that, the verb also appears in the plural:

• чернила высохли = the ink dried
• literally, something like the inks dried, grammatically speaking

This is similar to how English has nouns like scissors or pants, which are grammatically plural even when they refer to one thing.

Высохли is the perfective past form of высохнуть, meaning the drying was completed.

So:

• чернила высохли = the ink finished drying
• чернила сохли / высыхали would focus more on the process of drying

In this sentence, the teacher gives the learner another pen after the ink had dried, so a completed action is exactly what Russian wants here.

Because когда introduces a subordinate clause:

• Когда чернила высохли = When the ink dried
• main clause: учительница дала мне другую ручку...

Russian uses a comma to separate this kind of time clause from the main clause.

If the order were reversed, there would still be a comma:

• Учительница дала мне другую ручку, когда чернила высохли.

Because учительница is a feminine noun meaning female teacher, and in the past tense Russian verbs agree with gender in the singular.

So:

• дал = masculine
• дала = feminine
• дало = neuter
• дали = plural

Since the subject is учительница, the correct form is дала.

Мне is the dative case of я.

It is used because мне is the indirect object: the person who receives something.

• учительница дала мне другую ручку
• The teacher gave me another pen

Here:

• мне = to me
• другую ручку = the thing being given

So Russian uses:

• dative for the recipient
• accusative for the direct object

Другая ручка is the nominative form, the dictionary form.

But after дала, the pen is the direct object, so it must go into the accusative:

• nominative: другая ручка
• accusative: другую ручку

Both the adjective and noun change because they must agree in:

• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: accusative

So:

• дала другую ручку = gave another pen

It can mean either, depending on context.

Другой often covers both ideas:

• another
• different

In this sentence, both fit naturally:

• the teacher gave me another pen
• the teacher gave me a different pen

The context suggests the first pen was no longer suitable, so the teacher gave a replacement.

Yes, ручка can mean several things, including:

• pen
• handle
• sometimes even little hand in a childlike or affectionate way

Russian relies heavily on context. Here, because the sentence talks about ink and rewriting a heading, ручка clearly means pen.

Because Russian often omits words that are obvious from context.

Here, the teacher gave me another pen and then asked me to rewrite the heading. Since the person being asked is already clear, Russian can leave it out:

• учительница ... попросила переписать заголовок
• literally: the teacher ... asked to rewrite the heading

But the understood meaning is:

• попросила меня переписать заголовок

Both are possible. The version without меня sounds natural because the object is easy to infer.

After verbs like ask, tell, order, Russian often uses an infinitive to express what someone was asked to do.

So:

• попросила переписать = asked to rewrite

This is very common:

• попросил подождать = asked to wait
• попросила помочь = asked to help

In English, we often say asked me to rewrite, and Russian does the same kind of thing structurally, often with an infinitive.

Because переписать means to rewrite / write out again, not just to write.

Compare:

• писать = to write
• написать = to write, complete writing
• переписать = to rewrite, write again, copy over

The teacher is not asking for new writing from scratch. She wants the heading to be done again, more neatly. That is exactly why переписать is used.

Also, переписать is perfective, which fits a single completed action: rewrite it once and finish.

Заголовок is in the accusative singular, because it is the direct object of переписать.

It looks unchanged because masculine inanimate nouns often have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular:

• nominative: заголовок
• accusative: заголовок

So the case has changed grammatically, but the form stays the same.

Аккуратнее is a comparative form, used here like an adverb:

• аккуратно = neatly, carefully
• аккуратнее = more neatly, more carefully

So:

• переписать заголовок аккуратнее = rewrite the heading more neatly

Russian uses this kind of comparative very naturally even when there is no explicit comparison stated. It can imply:

• better than before
• more neatly than it currently is
• in a neater way

This is often more natural than a longer form like более аккуратно.

Yes, Russian word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence is arranged in a very natural way:

• Когда чернила высохли — sets the time first
• учительница дала мне другую ручку — main action
• и попросила переписать заголовок аккуратнее — next action

The order helps the sentence flow clearly from:

1. the situation
2. the teacher’s response
3. the teacher’s request

Other word orders are possible, but they may change the emphasis. Russian often moves words around to highlight what is new, important, or already known from context.