Тесто уже готово, теперь можно жарить блины на сковороде.

Тесто is neuter singular. It is also a mass noun: like dough in English, it normally refers to a substance rather than separate countable items.

Because готово describes тесто, it must agree with it. So Russian uses the neuter singular form:

• тесто готово
• compare:
  • суп готов — masculine singular
  • начинка готова — feminine singular
  • блины готовы — plural

Готово is the short form of the adjective готовый. In Russian, short-form adjectives are very often used as the predicate, especially when describing a current state:

• Тесто готово = The dough is ready

The full form готовое is more naturally used before a noun:

• готовое тесто = ready-made dough / prepared dough

So in this sentence, готово is the normal choice because it means is ready.

Уже means already.

In Тесто уже готово, it emphasizes that the dough has reached the ready state by now. This placement is very natural: уже often comes before the part it most directly modifies.

You can move it, but the emphasis changes:

• Тесто уже готово — neutral, natural
• Тесто готово уже — more marked, often contrastive or stylistic
• Уже тесто готово — possible, but strongly emphasizes already

For everyday Russian, the original word order is the safest.

Теперь means now in the sense of now, at this stage or given the new situation.

Here it connects the two ideas:

• the dough is ready
• so now pancakes can be fried

That is why теперь works well.

By contrast, сейчас usually means right now / at this very moment. In instructions or step-by-step narration, теперь is often more natural:

• Тесто уже готово, теперь можно... = The dough is ready, now we can...

Because the sentence contains two clauses:

• Тесто уже готово
• теперь можно жарить блины на сковороде

Russian normally separates such clauses with a comma, even when there is no conjunction like и.

So the comma marks a pause and shows that the second part follows from the first.

Можно is an impersonal word. It means something like:

• it is possible
• one can
• you can
• we can

Russian often leaves the subject unspoken when it is obvious from context. So теперь можно жарить блины does not say exactly who is doing it. It just means that the action is now possible or appropriate.

This is a very common structure:

• можно читать — one can read
• можно начинать — one can begin
• можно жарить блины — one can fry pancakes

Because after можно, Russian normally uses an infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• можно + infinitive

Examples:

• можно идти
• можно готовить
• можно жарить

That is why the sentence says можно жарить блины, not a conjugated form like можно жарим.

Жарить is imperfective. It presents the action as a process or general activity: to fry / to be frying.

That makes sense here because the sentence is describing the next stage in cooking:

• Now you can start frying pancakes

If you used пожарить, the meaning would shift toward a more bounded or completed action:

• теперь можно пожарить блины = now you can fry up the pancakes

Both are possible in some contexts, but жарить sounds very natural for a recipe-like instruction or a general next step.

That is a very good question, because both are used.

Печь блины is a very common traditional Russian expression. Even though blini are usually cooked on a pan, Russian often uses печь with блины idiomatically.

Жарить блины is also perfectly understandable and common, especially when the speaker is focusing on the actual frying process in a pan.

So:

• печь блины — very common set expression
• жарить блины — also natural, especially with на сковороде

In this sentence, жарить fits well because the pan is mentioned explicitly.

Блины is the direct object of жарить, so it is in the accusative plural.

However, with inanimate plural nouns, the accusative often looks exactly the same as the nominative. So:

• nominative plural: блины
• accusative plural: блины

That is why the form does not appear to change.

Because на сковороде expresses location: the pancakes are being cooked on/in the frying pan.

After на, Russian can use different cases depending on meaning:

• на сковороде — on/in the pan already there; location
• на сковороду — onto the pan; motion toward it

For example:

• Жарить блины на сковороде — fry pancakes in the pan
• Вылить тесто на сковороду — pour the batter onto the pan

So in your sentence, location is needed, not motion.

With a frying pan, Russian normally uses на, not в, because the food is thought of as being cooked on the surface of the pan.

So the standard expression is:

• жарить на сковороде

Using в сковороде would sound unnatural here.

Because Russian has no articles.

English must often choose between the dough, a pan, the pancakes, and so on. Russian usually leaves that information to context.

So Тесто уже готово can mean:

• The dough is ready
• or, depending on context, Dough is ready

In a real situation, the listener normally understands which one is meant.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order. The basic meaning would stay the same, but the emphasis would change.

The original sentence is very natural because it moves logically from condition to next action:

• Тесто уже готово, теперь можно жарить блины на сковороде.

Other orders are possible, but they may sound more marked, more contrastive, or less neutral. For a learner, the original order is an excellent model.