Слей воду из кастрюли через дуршлаг.

the water

Breakdown of Слей воду из кастрюли через дуршлаг.

• из: from
• кастрюля: the pot
• через: through

Questions & Answers about Слей воду из кастрюли через дуршлаг.

What does слей mean here?

Слей is the informal singular imperative of слить. In this sentence it means drain off, pour off, or pour out the water.

So the basic idea is:

• слить воду = to drain/pour off the water
• слей воду = drain/pour off the water

Because слить is perfective, the command sounds like do it and complete the action.

Why is it воду and not вода?

Because вода is the direct object of the verb, and with this verb it takes the accusative case.

• nominative: вода
• accusative: воду

So:

• вода = water as the subject
• слей воду = drain the water

This is a very common pattern in Russian: the thing being acted on goes into the accusative.

Why is it из кастрюли?