Я не люблю, когда мне намекают: если хочешь что-то сказать, не начинай долгий спор, а говори прямо.

Because Я не люблю, когда... means I don’t like it when... / I don’t like when....

Here когда introduces a situation that happens in general, not a real condition. The idea is:

• Я не люблю, когда мне намекают = I don’t like it when people hint at things to me

If you used если, it would sound more like if in a conditional sense, which is not what this part of the sentence is doing.

So:

• когда = when
• если = if

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a type of situation they dislike, so когда is the natural choice.

Because the verb намекать normally takes the person receiving the hint in the dative.

So:

• намекать кому? = to hint to whom?
• мне = to me

That is why you get:

• мне намекают = they hint to me / people hint at things to me

This is very common in Russian: many verbs that correspond to English verbs with to someone use the dative case.

Here the 3rd person plural is being used in an indefinite-personal way. It does not mean a specific group of people. It means something like:

• when people hint to me
• when someone hints at things instead of saying them directly

Russian often uses 3rd person plural with no explicit subject to talk about unspecified people in general.

So мне намекают is not really about they as a defined group. It is more like people hint to me.

The colon introduces an explanation of what the speaker means.

The first part says:

• Я не люблю, когда мне намекают = I don’t like it when people hint to me

Then the colon introduces the speaker’s direct explanation or principle:

• если хочешь что-то сказать, не начинай долгий спор, а говори прямо

So the colon works like:

• I don’t like hints: if you want to say something, don’t...; just say it directly.

It signals that the second part expands on or clarifies the first.

In Russian, subject pronouns are often omitted when they are clear from the verb form.

• хочешь already tells you it is ты: second person singular
• so если хочешь = if you want

Russian does not need to say ты unless it is being emphasized, contrasted, or made especially explicit.

So:

• если хочешь что-то сказать is perfectly natural
• если ты хочешь что-то сказать is also possible, but more explicit/emphatic

Что-то means something.

So:

• если хочешь что-то сказать = if you want to say something

This is the neuter indefinite pronoun built from что (what) + -то, which often gives the meaning something / somehow / some kind of depending on the word.

Here it is very straightforward:

• что-то = something

Because сказать and говорить are not exactly the same.

• сказать = to say, to express something once, as a completed act
• говорить = to speak, to talk, to say in a more ongoing/general sense

In если хочешь что-то сказать, the speaker means:

• if you want to say something specific

That favors сказать, because it refers to one complete act of saying something.

If you used говорить here, it would sound more process-oriented or less focused on the single point being expressed.

This is about aspect in the imperative.

• начинать = imperfective
• начать = perfective

The imperative не начинай is the normal, natural way to say don’t start in this kind of advice or instruction.

Why imperfective here? Because with negative imperatives, Russian often prefers the imperfective when telling someone not to do something at all, as a general instruction:

• не делай этого = don’t do that
• не говори так = don’t speak like that
• не начинай долгий спор = don’t start a long argument

A perfective negative imperative such as не начни is much less common and would usually have a different nuance.

Yes. Спор often means:

• argument
• dispute
• verbal disagreement
• sometimes debate, depending on context

In this sentence, долгий спор suggests something like:

• a long argument
• a prolonged dispute
• a drawn-out back-and-forth

So the idea is: if you want to say something, don’t turn it into a long argumentative discussion first.

Also note the accusative case:

• начинать что? → долгий спор

Since спор is masculine inanimate, its accusative singular looks like the nominative singular:

• долгий спор

Because а expresses contrast:

• не начинай долгий спор, а говори прямо
• don’t start a long argument, but speak directly

This is a classic Russian pattern:

• не X, а Y = not X, but Y

If you used и, it would sound more like simple addition, which is not the point here. The speaker is contrasting two ways of behaving:

1. the bad/unwanted way: starting a long argument
2. the preferred way: speaking directly

This is another aspect choice.

• говорить = imperfective
• сказать = perfective

Both can sometimes be translated as say, but the nuance is different.

Here говори прямо means:

• speak directly
• be direct
• say it plainly

The imperfective imperative говори is natural because it focuses on the manner or style of speaking: do it directly.

If you said скажи прямо, that would sound more like:

• say it directly
• just say it plainly now

That is also possible in some contexts, but говори прямо sounds like a broader instruction about how to speak.

Here прямо means:

• directly
• plainly
• straight out
• without hinting

It comes from the idea of something being straight rather than indirect or roundabout.

So говори прямо means:

• speak directly
• just say what you mean clearly

Depending on tone, it can suggest honesty, bluntness, or straightforwardness.

Yes, literally it looks like I do not love when..., but in natural English it usually means:

• I don’t like it when...
• I don’t like it if... (depending on context)

This is a very normal Russian structure:

• Я люблю, когда... = I like it when...
• Я не люблю, когда... = I don’t like it when...

Russian often uses любить / не любить in places where English prefers like / don’t like.

It has two main parts.

1. Я не люблю, когда мне намекают

   • main clause: Я не люблю
   • subordinate clause with когда: когда мне намекают

2. After the colon, the speaker gives a general rule or instruction:

   • если хочешь что-то сказать
   • не начинай долгий спор
   • а говори прямо

So the structure is roughly:

• I don’t like it when people hint to me: if you want to say something, don’t start a long argument; say it directly.

The sentence moves from:

• a personal reaction (I don’t like...) to
• a general instruction addressed to another person (if you want..., don’t..., say...)

Yes. Намекать can be used with:

• the person in the dative: намекать кому?
• and often the thing hinted at with на + accusative: намекать на что?

For example:

• Он намекнул мне на проблему = He hinted to me about the problem

In your sentence, the thing being hinted at is left unstated. That is completely normal. The focus is on the annoying behavior itself:

• когда мне намекают = when people hint at things to me / hint around instead of speaking plainly

So the sentence does not need to say exactly what is being hinted at.