Я вырезал нужный абзац ножницами и потом положил его в тетрадь.

Because вырезал is a perfective verb: it presents the action as a completed result — cut out.

• резал = was cutting / cut, focusing on the process
• вырезал = cut out completely, with the result that the paragraph is now separated

In this sentence, the speaker did two completed actions in sequence:

1. вырезал the paragraph
2. положил it into the notebook

So perfective verbs fit very naturally here.

Вырезал is the past tense form of the verb.

In Russian past tense, the verb agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• я вырезал = I cut out (said by a man)
• я вырезала = I cut out (said by a woman)
• мы вырезали = we cut out

So -л here marks past tense masculine singular.

Нужный means needed or necessary, and it must agree with абзац.

Абзац is:

• masculine
• singular
• in the accusative case here

For an inanimate masculine noun, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular. So:

• нужный абзац = the needed paragraph

The adjective нужный matches the noun in gender, number, and case.

Because it is the direct object of the verb вырезал.

The speaker did the action to the paragraph, so Russian uses the accusative:

• вырезал что? → абзац

Since абзац is masculine and inanimate, its accusative form is the same as its dictionary form:

• nominative: абзац
• accusative: абзац

Because ножницами is the instrumental case, used to show the tool or means by which something is done.

Here it means:

• ножницами = with scissors

So:

• вырезал ножницами = cut out with scissors

Also, ножницы is a noun that exists only in the plural in Russian, like scissors in English. Its instrumental plural form is ножницами.

Like English scissors, Russian ножницы is a plural-only noun. It refers to one object, but grammatically it behaves as plural.

So you get forms like:

• ножницы = scissors
• нет ножниц = there are no scissors
• ножницами = with scissors

This is just something learners have to memorize for certain nouns.

Because его is the form used for a direct object.

After положил (put), the speaker is acting on it — that is, on the paragraph. So Russian needs the accusative form of the pronoun:

• он = he / it (subject form)
• его = him / it (object form)

So:

• положил его = put it

Because в can take different cases depending on the meaning:

• в + accusative = motion into
• в + prepositional = location in

Here the paragraph is being moved into the notebook, so Russian uses the accusative:

• в тетрадь = into the notebook

Compare:

• Он положил абзац в тетрадь. = He put the paragraph into the notebook.
• Абзац лежит в тетради. = The paragraph is in the notebook.

Тетрадь usually means a notebook/exercise book, especially a paper notebook used for writing, schoolwork, or notes.

A learner might wonder whether this means a bound notebook, a copybook, or something else. In many contexts, тетрадь is exactly the normal word for a school-style notebook.

So положил его в тетрадь suggests placing the cut-out paragraph into or onto/in a notebook, likely as part of notes or schoolwork.

Russian has no articles like a or the.

So in this sentence:

• нужный абзац could mean a needed paragraph or the needed paragraph
• в тетрадь could mean into a notebook or into the notebook

Which one sounds right depends on context. Russian usually lets the listener figure this out from the situation, word order, and shared knowledge.

Потом means then / afterwards. It helps show the sequence clearly:

1. first he cut out the paragraph
2. then he put it into the notebook

It is not always strictly necessary, because the two perfective past verbs already suggest a sequence. But потом makes the order more explicit and natural.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order, because case endings show grammatical roles.

The original sentence is neutral and natural:

• Я вырезал нужный абзац ножницами и потом положил его в тетрадь.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Я ножницами вырезал нужный абзац и потом положил его в тетрадь.
• Нужный абзац я вырезал ножницами и потом положил его в тетрадь.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes. The original version sounds like a straightforward narrative.

Yes. The pronoun must match the noun’s grammatical gender and number.

Since абзац is masculine singular, the pronoun referring to it is:

• он in nominative
• его in accusative/genitive

So even though English uses it for paragraph, Russian uses the masculine pronoun because абзац is a masculine noun.

Yes. Положил is the past tense of положить, a perfective verb meaning to put, to place, to lay down.

In this sentence, put is the most natural translation:

• положил его в тетрадь = put it into the notebook

Like вырезал, положил is perfective, so it presents the action as completed.

It sounds physical.

• вырезал ... ножницами strongly suggests literally cutting out a paragraph from paper
• положил его в тетрадь suggests placing that cut-out piece into a notebook

So the most natural interpretation is that someone physically cut out a paragraph and put it into a notebook, perhaps for homework, notes, or a scrapbook-like task.