Если тебе что‑то непонятно, лучше поднять руку сразу.

Because Russian often uses a dative construction for states and feelings.

Here, Если тебе что-то непонятно literally works like:

• If to you something is unclear

In natural English, we say If you don’t understand something or If something is unclear to you.

So:

• тебе = to you (dative)
• ты would be the subject form, but this sentence is not built that way

This pattern is very common in Russian:

• Мне холодно = I’m cold (literally, To me it is cold)
• Ему скучно = He’s bored
• Нам интересно = We’re interested

Что-то means something.

So:

• Если тебе что-то непонятно = If something is unclear to you
• more naturally: If there’s something you don’t understand

It is made from:

• что = what
• -то = a particle that makes it indefinite, like some-

Compare:

• что? = what?
• что-то = something
• кто-то = someone
• где-то = somewhere

Because непонятно here is not describing a noun directly. It is being used predicatively, meaning it is unclear / not understandable.

Compare:

• непонятный вопрос = an unclear question
  
  • Here непонятный is an adjective modifying вопрос
• Мне непонятно = It’s unclear to me / I don’t understand

In your sentence:

• что-то непонятно = something is unclear

This is a very common Russian structure:

• мне трудно = it’s hard for me
• ему интересно = it’s interesting to him
• нам важно = it’s important to us

Here лучше means it’s better to...

So:

• лучше поднять руку сразу = it’s better to raise your hand right away

Russian often omits words like it is or you should when they are understood from context.

So this sentence is not a direct command like Raise your hand immediately. It sounds more like advice:

• If something is unclear to you, it’s better to raise your hand right away

You can think of лучше here as a soft recommendation.

The subject is understood from context: you.

Russian very often leaves out words that English would normally include if the meaning is obvious.

So:

• лучше поднять руку сразу literally = better to raise a hand right away
• natural English = you should raise your hand right away or it’s better to raise your hand right away

This kind of impersonal phrasing is extremely common in Russian.

Because поднять is the perfective form, and here it refers to a single complete action: raise your hand.

Compare the aspect pair:

• поднимать = imperfective, process/repeated action
• поднять = perfective, one completed action

In this sentence, the idea is:

• if you don’t understand, do the action once and do it immediately

So поднять руку is the natural choice.

If you used поднимать, it would sound less natural here, because the sentence is about one specific response, not an ongoing or repeated process.

Yes, it matches very closely.

• поднять = to raise / lift
• руку = hand in the accusative case

So поднять руку means to raise one’s hand.

The noun changes because it is the direct object:

• nominative: рука
• accusative: руку

This is a standard classroom phrase in Russian.

Because it is the direct object of поднять.

The verb поднять acts on рука, so Russian uses the accusative:

• рука = nominative
• руку = accusative singular

This is normal for many verbs:

• читать книгу = to read a book
• открыть дверь = to open the door
• поднять руку = to raise a hand

Сразу means right away / immediately / at once.

So the second half means:

• лучше поднять руку сразу = it’s better to raise your hand immediately

The idea is that you should not wait until later if you are confused.

A few close English equivalents are:

• right away
• immediately
• straight away

Because Если тебе что-то непонятно is a subordinate clause introduced by если (if).

Russian separates this type of clause with a comma:

• Если X, Y. = If X, Y.

So:

• Если тебе что-то непонятно, лучше поднять руку сразу.

This punctuation is standard in Russian.

Yes, that is a very natural translation.

Even though the Russian literally looks more like:

• If something is unclear to you, it is better to raise your hand right away

in normal English, these are all good translations:

• If you don’t understand something, raise your hand right away.
• If something isn’t clear to you, it’s better to raise your hand immediately.
• If you have a question, it’s best to raise your hand right away.

The exact best translation depends on tone, but the meaning stays the same.

It is informal singular, because it uses тебе.

Compare:

• тебе = to you (singular informal)
• вам = to you (plural or formal singular)

So this sentence sounds like someone speaking to:

• one student informally
• a child
• a friend
• or just using an informal teaching tone

A more formal or plural version would be:

• Если вам что-то непонятно, лучше поднять руку сразу.

That would mean:

• If something is unclear to you, it’s better to raise your hand right away

and could be said to a class or in a more polite setting.

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

The original:

• Если тебе что-то непонятно, лучше поднять руку сразу.

is very natural.

You could also hear:

• Если тебе что-то непонятно, сразу лучше поднять руку.
• Лучше сразу поднять руку, если тебе что-то непонятно.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis shifts a little:

• сразу near the end gives a natural right away feel
• лучше сразу поднять руку emphasizes that the timing matters
• putting the main clause first can sound a bit more like advice up front

For learners, the original version is an excellent model to remember.