Вечером лучше закрыть шторы, если окна выходят на яркую улицу.

Вечером is the instrumental singular form of вечер (evening).

In Russian, some time expressions use the instrumental case to mean during / in a part of the day:

• утром = in the morning
• днём = in the daytime / during the day
• вечером = in the evening
• ночью = at night

So Вечером here means In the evening or During the evening.

It is not functioning like a direct object here; it is an adverbial time expression.

Лучше закрыть means something like:

• it is better to close
• you’d better close
• it’s best to close

This is a very common Russian structure:

• лучше + infinitive

Examples:

• Лучше подождать. = It’s better to wait.
• Лучше уйти сейчас. = It’s better to leave now.

There is no explicit subject in the sentence, but Russian often leaves it unstated when the meaning is general. In English, we often supply you, but Russian does not need to.

So the sentence is not literally commanding someone in the imperative; it is giving advice.

Закрыть is the perfective infinitive, while закрывать is imperfective.

Here, закрыть is used because the sentence is talking about a single complete action: close the curtains.

Compare:

• Лучше закрыть шторы. = It’s better to close the curtains.
  Focus: one completed act.

• Лучше закрывать шторы. = It’s better to keep closing / make a habit of closing the curtains.
  Focus: repeated or habitual action.

In this sentence, the idea is a practical one-time action in a given situation, so perfective закрыть is the natural choice.

Шторы is the plural of штора (curtain).

In real-life usage, curtains are often talked about in the plural because a window usually has a pair or a set of curtains. So закрыть шторы is very natural and often corresponds to English close the curtains.

If you were talking about just one curtain, you could say:

• закрыть штору = close the curtain

But in ordinary home-related speech, the plural is often the default.

Yes, literally выходить can mean to go out or to lead out, but with windows, balconies, doors, and even houses, it often means:

• to face
• to overlook
• to look out onto

So:

• окна выходят на улицу = the windows face the street / look out onto the street

This is a very common idiomatic use in Russian.

More examples:

• Окна выходят во двор. = The windows face the courtyard.
• Балкон выходит на море. = The balcony overlooks the sea.

So you should not translate it too literally here.

Because окна is the subject, and выходят is the normal 3rd person plural form of выходить.

• окно = window
• окна = windows
• выходит = faces / looks out (singular)
• выходят = face / look out (plural)

So:

• Окно выходит на улицу. = The window faces the street.
• Окна выходят на улицу. = The windows face the street.

There is nothing reflexive here. The verb is just the ordinary выходить.

Because the expression выходить на + accusative is the standard pattern when something faces onto something.

Here:

• на улицу = onto the street / facing the street
• яркую agrees with улицу

So:

• улица is nominative
• улицу is accusative
• яркая улица becomes яркую улицу in the accusative feminine singular

This is one of those combinations you should learn as a unit:

• выходить на улицу
• выходить на площадь
• выходить на дорогу

Even though there is no actual movement in English, Russian still uses this pattern idiomatically with выходить на.

Because the two verbs are doing different jobs in the sentence.

закрыть

This refers to a single action someone should do.
That is why perfective is used.

выходят

This describes an ongoing fact or characteristic of the windows: they face a bright street.
That is why imperfective is used.

So the contrast is very natural:

• закрыть = one complete action
• выходят = a general state or situation

Russian often mixes aspects this way in the same sentence.

Russian often leaves out the subject when it is obvious, general, or not important.

In English, we might say:

• You’d better close the curtains
• It’s better to close the curtains

Russian can simply say:

• Лучше закрыть шторы

This sounds natural and does not require a pronoun like ты or вы.

If you added a pronoun, it would usually sound more specific or emphatic:

• Тебе лучше закрыть шторы. = You had better close the curtains.
• Вам лучше закрыть шторы. = You had better close the curtains. (formal/plural)

But in the original sentence, the advice is stated in a neutral, general way.

Usually, yes. In this sentence, если clearly means if and introduces a condition:

• если окна выходят на яркую улицу = if the windows face a bright street

Sometimes in broader context, если can be close to when in English, especially if the condition is expected or repeated, but if is the safest and most direct translation here.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, although some versions sound more natural than others depending on emphasis.

The original sentence:

• Вечером лучше закрыть шторы, если окна выходят на яркую улицу.

This is a neutral, natural order:

• first the time: Вечером
• then the advice: лучше закрыть шторы
• then the condition: если окна выходят на яркую улицу

Possible alternatives:

• Если окна выходят на яркую улицу, вечером лучше закрыть шторы.
• Шторы вечером лучше закрыть, если окна выходят на яркую улицу.

These are still grammatical, but they shift emphasis slightly.

A learner should usually stick with the original order unless there is a reason to emphasize something specific.

Yes. In this context, яркую улицу naturally suggests a street with a lot of light, such as streetlights, signs, traffic, or other strong nighttime lighting.

So although яркий often means bright, the most natural interpretation here is probably:

• a brightly lit street
• a street with strong lights

That fits well with the idea that in the evening you should close the curtains.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• шторы usually means heavier curtains, often meant to block light
• занавески usually means lighter curtains, net curtains, or drapes of a lighter kind

Since the sentence is about keeping out bright light from the street, шторы is especially appropriate.

So:

• закрыть шторы sounds very natural here
• закрыть занавески is possible, but may suggest lighter window coverings

The exact choice depends on what kind of curtains the speaker has in mind.