Лучше не шептаться во время урока, если потом хочешь задать точный вопрос.

Лучше + infinitive is a very common Russian way to say it’s better to... or you’d better...

So:

Лучше не шептаться...
= It’s better not to whisper... / You’d better not whisper...

Russian often leaves out words like это or будет in this kind of general advice. A fuller version could be something like:

Лучше не шептаться во время урока.
= It’s better not to whisper during class.

This sounds natural and idiomatic.

Because шептаться means to whisper with each other / to whisper back and forth, while шептать means simply to whisper.

• шептать = to whisper
• шептаться = to whisper together, to whisper among yourselves

In a classroom context, шептаться often suggests students quietly talking to each other, not just one person producing a whisper.

So:

• не шептать = not to whisper
• не шептаться = not to whisper to each other / not to be whispering together

The reflexive ending -ся changes the nuance.

It is in the infinitive because it depends on лучше.

The pattern is:

лучше + infinitive

Examples:

• Лучше подождать. = It’s better to wait.
• Лучше не спорить. = It’s better not to argue.
• Лучше не шептаться. = It’s better not to whisper to each other.

So the infinitive is exactly what you would expect after лучше in this kind of advice.

The expression is во время + genitive, and it means during.

So:

• во время урока = during the lesson/class

A few points:

1. The fixed expression is во время, not в время.
2. After во время, the next noun goes into the genitive case.
3. урок in the genitive singular is урока.

So:

• урок → nominative
• урока → genitive

That is why you get во время урока.

Because во время requires the genitive case.

The base form is:

• урок = lesson, class

But after во время, Russian uses genitive:

• во время урока = during the class

This is a normal case change, not a special exception.

Some similar examples:

• во время фильма = during the film
• во время встречи = during the meeting
• во время экзамена = during the exam

Russian often omits the subject when it is clear from the verb form.

Here we have:

хочешь = you want

Because the verb ending -ешь clearly shows you (singular, informal), Russian does not need to say ты.

So:

• если потом хочешь задать точный вопрос
  = if later you want to ask a precise question

Adding ты is possible:

• если потом ты хочешь задать точный вопрос

But it is often unnecessary and may sound more emphatic or contrastive depending on context.

Хочешь is the 2nd person singular form of хотеть (to want).

Conjugation:

• я хочу = I want
• ты хочешь = you want
• он/она хочет = he/she wants
• мы хотим = we want
• вы хотите = you want (plural/formal)
• они хотят = they want

So хочешь tells us the sentence is addressing one person informally: you.

In Russian, задать вопрос is the standard expression for to ask a question.

• задать вопрос = to ask a question

Although спросить means to ask, Russian usually says:

• спросить кого-то = to ask someone
• задать вопрос = to ask a question

So English uses one verb very broadly (ask), but Russian often chooses different verbs depending on the object.

Examples:

• Я спросил учителя. = I asked the teacher.
• Я задал вопрос учителю. = I asked the teacher a question.

Because задать is perfective, and here it refers to asking a specific question as one complete action.

• задавать = imperfective, asking / asking repeatedly / in general
• задать = perfective, to ask once, to put forward a question

In this sentence, the idea is:

if later you want to ask a precise question

That is a single completed action, so задать fits naturally.

Compare:

• Он любит задавать вопросы. = He likes asking questions.
  (general habit, imperfective)
• Я хочу задать вопрос. = I want to ask a question.
  (single act, perfective)

Точный means precise, exact, or accurate.

So точный вопрос means a question that is well-formed, precise, and exact, not vague.

Why not the others?

• правильный вопрос = a correct question
  This focuses more on correctness.
• конкретный вопрос = a specific/concrete question
  This emphasizes being specific.
• точный вопрос = a precise question
  This emphasizes exactness and clarity.

So точный works well if the idea is that paying attention will help you ask something clearly and precisely later.

Потом means later or afterwards.

In this sentence:

если потом хочешь задать точный вопрос
= if later you want to ask a precise question

It connects the classroom behavior now with the later result: if you want to ask a good question afterward, don’t spend the lesson whispering.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but the given version is natural and clear:

Лучше не шептаться во время урока, если потом хочешь задать точный вопрос.

The structure is:

1. Лучше не шептаться — the advice
2. во время урока — when not to do it
3. если потом хочешь задать точный вопрос — the condition/reason

You could rearrange parts, for example:

Если потом хочешь задать точный вопрос, лучше не шептаться во время урока.

This is also natural and puts more emphasis on the condition first:

If you want to ask a precise question later, it’s better not to whisper during class.

So the original order is not the only possible one, but it is a very normal one.

It can mean both, depending on context.

• урок = lesson
• in school contexts, it often corresponds to a class period

So во время урока can be translated as:

• during the lesson
• during class

In this sentence, during class is probably the most natural English phrasing, but during the lesson is also fine.

It sounds most like advice or a mild instruction.

Лучше makes it softer than a direct command.

Compare:

• Не шепчитесь во время урока!
  = Don’t whisper during class!
  Stronger, direct command

• Лучше не шептаться во время урока...
  = It’s better not to whisper during class...
  Softer, more advisory

So the speaker is not just describing something; they are recommending better behavior.