Если Вам холодно, лучше бы Вы взяли с собой термос и тёплые варежки.

If you are cold, you’d better take a thermos and warm mittens with you.

Breakdown of Если Вам холодно, лучше бы Вы взяли с собой термос и тёплые варежки.

• с: with
• и: and
• если: if
• вы: you

Questions & Answers about Если Вам холодно, лучше бы Вы взяли с собой термос и тёплые варежки.

Why are Вам and Вы capitalized?

They are capitalized because the speaker is addressing someone politely and formally, like you in a respectful singular sense.

In modern Russian, this capitalization is common in letters, messages, and other direct written communication when showing politeness. In many ordinary texts, you may also see вам and вы in lowercase even when the meaning is still formal.

Why does Russian say Вам холодно instead of something like Вы холодны?

Russian usually expresses physical or emotional states with an impersonal pattern:

[person in the dative] + [state word]

So:

Вам холодно = You are cold / You feel cold

Here, холодно is not an adjective agreeing with Вы. It is a state word meaning cold in the sense of how someone feels. That is why the person appears in the dative case: вам.

By contrast, Вы холодны would mean something more like you are cold/distant in personality or manner, not physically cold.

Why is there no verb for are in Если Вам холодно?