Стоит ли идти в деканат сегодня, если заявление уже подписано?

Стоит ли is a very common way to ask whether something is worth doing or whether it makes sense to do it.

• стоить literally means to cost, but in the pattern стоит + infinitive it often means it is worth ...
• ли is a question particle meaning something like whether

So Стоит ли идти... ? means Is it worth going... ? / Should one go... ?

This is a softer, more practical question than a direct command-style question like Нужно ли идти...?, which would mean Is it necessary to go...?

Ли is used to turn something into an indirect yes/no question or a more formal yes/no question.

In Russian, ли usually comes right after the word being questioned most directly.

Here:

• Стоит ли идти... ?

The speaker is asking about whether it is worth it.

Compare:

• Стоит ли идти в деканат? = Is it worth going to the dean’s office?
• Сегодня ли стоит идти в деканат? = Is it today that it’s worth going?

So the placement of ли matters.

This is about Russian verbs of motion.

• идти = to go, on foot, in one direction / for a specific trip
• ходить = to go habitually, repeatedly, or in general
• пойти = to set off, to start going

In Стоит ли идти в деканат сегодня...?, идти is natural because the question is about a specific possible trip: to go there today.

Why not the others?

• ходить would sound more like Is it worth going there in general / regularly?
• пойти would focus more on the moment of setting out: Is it worth setting off to the dean’s office? This is possible in some contexts, but идти is more neutral here.

Also, Russian often uses идти even when English would just say go, without emphasizing that it is on foot.

Because в can take different cases depending on meaning:

• в + accusative = motion into/to a place
• в + prepositional = location in/at a place

Here the idea is go to the dean’s office, so Russian uses в деканат:

• идти в деканат = to go to the dean’s office

If you were talking about being there, you would say:

• в деканате = in the dean’s office / at the dean’s office

So:

• Идти в деканат = motion
• Быть в деканате = location

Деканат is a university administrative office connected with a faculty or department, often translated as:

• the dean’s office
• sometimes more broadly the faculty office or academic administration office

For an English speaker, dean’s office is usually the closest translation, but in practice the Russian деканат may refer to the office handling student paperwork and faculty administration rather than just the dean personally.

Russian often leaves the subject unstated when it is understood from context or when the statement is meant generally.

So Стоит ли идти в деканат сегодня...? can mean things like:

• Should I go to the dean’s office today...?
• Should we go...?
• Is it worth going...?

English usually needs a subject, but Russian does not always express one.

This sentence feels fairly general and impersonal, like Would it make sense to go to the dean’s office today...?

This clause means if the application/request has already been signed.

Breakdown:

• если = if
• заявление = application, request, statement
• уже = already
• подписано = signed

This is a conditional clause: the speaker is asking whether going to the office is necessary or useful given that the document is already signed.

Подписано is a short passive participle, and it agrees with заявление.

Important point:

• заявление is neuter singular
• therefore the short passive form is подписано

Compare:

• документ подписан = the document is signed (masculine)
• справка подписана = the certificate is signed (feminine)
• заявление подписано = the application is signed (neuter)
• документы подписаны = the documents are signed (plural)

Why not подписали?

• подписали means they signed or someone signed
• that would be an active verb form
• подписано is passive: it has been signed

Russian often uses this short passive style for official or administrative language.

In this context, it can correspond to either English form depending on how you translate it.

• заявление уже подписано literally looks like the application is already signed
• but in natural English it often means the application has already been signed

Russian short passive participles often describe the resulting state, while also implying that the action has been completed.

So here the idea is: the signing is already done.

Уже usually goes before the word or phrase it most directly modifies.

Here:

• заявление уже подписано

This means the application is already signed / has already been signed.

Placing уже before подписано is the normal, neutral order.

Russian word order is flexible, so other orders are possible for emphasis, but this one is the most straightforward.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but changes in order can affect emphasis or style.

Neutral version:

• Стоит ли идти в деканат сегодня, если заявление уже подписано?

Possible variations:

• Если заявление уже подписано, стоит ли идти в деканат сегодня?
  This puts the condition first and sounds very natural too.

• Стоит ли сегодня идти в деканат, если заявление уже подписано?
  This emphasizes today a little more.

• Стоит ли идти сегодня в деканат, если заявление уже подписано?
  Also possible; the difference is small.

So yes, the order can change, but the original sentence is a neutral and natural way to say it.

Сегодня means today, and in this sentence it modifies идти в деканат.

The position:

• Стоит ли идти в деканат сегодня...?

is perfectly natural and means Is it worth going to the dean’s office today...?

You could also say:

• Стоит ли сегодня идти в деканат...?

Both are correct. The difference is mainly one of emphasis and rhythm:

• сегодня later in the sentence often sounds slightly more conversational
• сегодня earlier can highlight the time more strongly

Yes, если is the normal word for if in a condition.

Here it introduces the condition:

• если заявление уже подписано = if the application has already been signed

In context, English might also translate it as:

• if
• since
• given that

But grammatically, Russian is using a standard if-clause with если.

It is quite natural and ordinary, but some words make it sound a bit administrative or university-related:

• деканат
• заявление
• подписано

So the grammar itself is everyday Russian, while the vocabulary is typical of academic or bureaucratic situations.

That is why the sentence sounds realistic for student life: it is not overly formal, but it is clearly about official paperwork.