Breakdown of Пожалуйста, сделай скриншот и перешли его мне по электронной почте.
Questions & Answers about Пожалуйста, сделай скриншот и перешли его мне по электронной почте.
Why is it сделай and not делай?
Сделай is the imperative singular of сделать, which is a perfective verb.
In this sentence, the speaker is asking for one complete action:
- make/take a screenshot
- with the focus on the result being completed
That is why Russian uses the perfective verb сделать → сделай.
Compare:
- сделай скриншот = take/make a screenshot (one finished screenshot)
- делай скриншоты = make/take screenshots or keep making screenshots (process, repeated action, or instruction)
For a one-time request like this, сделай is the natural choice.
Why is it перешли and not something like отправь?
Перешли is the imperative of переслать / пересылать, meaning send on, forward, or send over.
In this context, перешли его мне means something like:
- send it to me
- forward it to me
Russian often uses переслать when something is being passed from one person/device/place to another.
You could also hear:
- отправь мне его по электронной почте = send it to me by email
That is also correct and natural.
The difference is mainly one of verb choice and nuance:
- отправить = send
- переслать = send on / forward / send over
In everyday usage here, both can work.
Why do both verbs end in -й / -и? Are these commands?
Yes. Сделай and перешли are both imperatives, meaning they are command/request forms.
This sentence is addressing one person informally:
- сделай = do/make
- перешли = send/forward
Because пожалуйста is included, it sounds like a polite request, not a harsh command.
If you were speaking to:
- more than one person, or
- one person formally (you in a polite sense),
you would use:
- Пожалуйста, сделайте скриншот и перешлите его мне по электронной почте.
So:
- сделай / перешли = singular informal
- сделайте / перешлите = plural or formal polite
What case is скриншот, and why doesn’t it change?
Скриншот is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of сделай.
The thing being made/taken is the screenshot.
For many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular:
- nominative: скриншот
- accusative: скриншот
So the form does not change, even though the case has changed.
Why is it его? What exactly does it refer to?
Его means it here, and it refers back to скриншот.
Since скриншот is:
- masculine
- singular
- inanimate
the pronoun used for it is его in the accusative.
So the structure is:
- сделай скриншот = make/take a screenshot
- перешли его мне = send it to me
In English, we must use it. Russian often can omit pronouns in some contexts, but here его is very natural because it clearly points back to скриншот.
Why is it мне and not я or меня?
Мне is the dative case of я.
Russian uses the dative for the indirect object, which often corresponds to English to me.
So:
- перешли его мне = send it to me
Compare:
- я = I
- меня = me (often accusative/genitive, depending on context)
- мне = to me / for me
Because the screenshot is being sent to the speaker, мне is the correct form.
Why does по электронной почте mean by email?
This is a standard Russian expression.
- по
- dative case can mean by means of, via, or through
- электронная почта = electronic mail / email
In this phrase, электронная почта changes to the dative:
- электронная почта → электронной почте
So:
- по электронной почте = by email / via email
This is a fixed and very common phrase.
Why do электронной and почте both change form?
Because they are both part of the phrase after по, and по here requires the dative case.
Base form:
- электронная почта
Dative singular:
- электронной почте
The adjective must agree with the noun in:
- gender
- number
- case
Since почта is:
- feminine
- singular
- dative
the adjective also becomes:
- feminine
- singular
- dative
So:
- электронная почта
- по электронной почте
Is the word order fixed in this sentence?
No, Russian word order is fairly flexible.
The sentence as given is natural:
- Пожалуйста, сделай скриншот и перешли его мне по электронной почте.
But other versions are also possible, for example:
- Сделай, пожалуйста, скриншот и перешли его мне по электронной почте.
- Пожалуйста, сделай скриншот и перешли мне его по электронной почте.
These all mean basically the same thing, but the emphasis may shift slightly.
A learner should notice that Russian often moves words around more freely than English, while case endings help preserve the meaning.
Why is пожалуйста at the beginning?
Пожалуйста means please, and putting it at the beginning makes the whole request sound polite right away.
Russian can place пожалуйста in different positions:
- Пожалуйста, сделай скриншот...
- Сделай, пожалуйста, скриншот...
Both are natural.
So its position is somewhat flexible, though the beginning and after the verb are especially common.
What kind of nuance do the perfective verbs give to the whole sentence?
The sentence uses perfective imperatives:
- сделай
- перешли
This gives the idea of:
- a single request
- with emphasis on the completed result
The speaker wants two finished outcomes:
- the screenshot gets taken
- it gets sent by email
If imperfective forms were used instead, the meaning would change or sound less natural here:
- делай
- пересылай
These could suggest:
- repeated action
- process
- ongoing instruction
- habitual behavior
Since this sentence is about completing two specific actions once, perfective is the normal choice.
Is скриншот a normal Russian word?
Yes. Скриншот is a common modern Russian borrowing from English screenshot.
It is widely used in everyday speech, especially in technology-related contexts.
A more native-sounding alternative is:
- снимок экрана = screen capture / screenshot
So you may hear either:
- сделай скриншот
- сделай снимок экрана
In everyday conversation, скриншот is extremely common.
Why is there и between the two verbs?
И means and.
It connects the two requested actions:
- сделай скриншот
- и перешли его мне по электронной почте
So the speaker is asking the person to do two things in sequence:
- make/take the screenshot
- send it by email
Russian often strings requests together this way with imperative verbs joined by и.
Would this sentence sound rude without пожалуйста?
Not necessarily rude, but definitely more direct.
Compare:
Пожалуйста, сделай скриншот и перешли его мне по электронной почте.
= polite requestСделай скриншот и перешли его мне по электронной почте.
= more direct, more like a straightforward instruction
Whether it sounds rude depends on:
- tone of voice
- relationship between speakers
- situation
In many contexts, adding пожалуйста is the safest and most polite option.
How would I say the same thing to someone I address formally?
You would change the imperative forms to the formal/plural versions:
- Пожалуйста, сделайте скриншот и перешлите его мне по электронной почте.
The changes are:
- сделай → сделайте
- перешли → перешлите
This is used for:
- one person addressed politely/formally
- more than one person
Everything else in the sentence stays the same.
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