Questions & Answers about Пожалуйста, не двигай стол.
Why is the verb двигай and not двигать?
Двигать is the infinitive, meaning to move. In this sentence, Russian needs the imperative form, because the speaker is telling someone not to do something.
So:
- двигать = to move
- двигай = move! / in this sentence with не, don’t move!
Here the full pattern is:
- двигай = singular informal command
- не двигай = don’t move
Why is there не before the verb?
Не is the normal word for not in Russian. To make a negative command, Russian usually uses:
- не + imperative
So:
- Двигай стол. = Move the table.
- Не двигай стол. = Don’t move the table.
This is the standard way to say don’t do X.
Is двигай singular? How would I say this to more than one person or more formally?