Не путай дату встречи с датой экзамена.

Don’t mix up the meeting date with the exam date.

Breakdown of Не путай дату встречи с датой экзамена.

• с: with
• не: not
• экзамен: the exam
• дата: the date

Questions & Answers about Не путай дату встречи с датой экзамена.

What does Не путай mean grammatically?

Не путай is a negative imperative: it means don’t confuse / don’t mix up.

• путай = the imperative form of путать
• не = makes it negative

This form is used when speaking to one person in an informal way.

So the sentence is addressed to one person, like a friend, child, classmate, or someone you speak to with ты.

Why is it путай, not путаешь?

Because путай is a command, while путаешь is a normal present-tense form.

• ты путаешь = you confuse / you are confusing
• не путай = don’t confuse

English often uses the bare verb for commands, and Russian does something similar with a special imperative form.

Is this sentence informal? How would I say it formally or to more than one person?