Если добавить укроп и свёклу, борщ станет ярче и вкуснее.

This is a very common Russian pattern: если + infinitive can express a general condition without naming the person who does the action.

So Если добавить укроп и свёклу... means something like:

• If you add dill and beetroot...
• If one adds dill and beetroot...
• If dill and beetroot are added...

It sounds general and neutral, which is especially common in recipes, instructions, and factual statements.

If you wanted to make the subject explicit, you could say:

• Если вы добавите укроп и свёклу, ...

That is also correct, but it sounds more directly addressed to you.

Because добавить is the perfective form. Here, Russian is talking about a single completed action that leads to a result:

• first, you add the ingredients
• then, the borscht becomes brighter and tastier

Perfective is natural because the sentence focuses on the result of that completed addition.

Compare:

• добавить = to add once, to add completely
• добавлять = to be adding, to add repeatedly, to add in general

In this sentence, добавить fits better because it means add these things, and as a result the soup will change.

Both words are direct objects of добавить, so both are in the accusative case. The reason they look different is that Russian nouns change differently depending on gender and type.

• укроп is masculine inanimate singular

  • nominative: укроп
  • accusative: укроп
    These two forms are the same.

• свёкла is feminine singular

  • nominative: свёкла
  • accusative: свёклу
    The ending changes from -а to -у.

So both are accusative, but only свёкла shows a visible change here.

Борщ is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the main clause.

In борщ станет ярче и вкуснее, the borscht is the thing that undergoes the change. It is the thing that becomes brighter and tastier.

So:

• борщ = subject, nominative
• укроп and свёклу = objects, accusative

Станет is the future tense of стать, which means to become.

So:

• борщ станет ярче и вкуснее = the borscht will become brighter and tastier

This is slightly different from simply saying will be. Russian uses стать when it wants to show a change of state.

That is important here, because the soup is changing after the ingredients are added.

Compare:

• борщ будет вкуснее = the borscht will be tastier
• борщ станет вкуснее = the borscht will become tastier

Both can work in some contexts, but станет highlights the result of the change more clearly.

Because ярче and вкуснее are comparative forms:

• яркий = bright

• ярче = brighter

• вкусный = tasty
• вкуснее = tastier

The sentence is not just describing the borscht; it is saying the borscht will become more bright and more tasty than before.

That is why the comparative is used.

Also, these comparative forms do not change for gender, number, or case. That is why you do not see them agreeing with борщ in the way regular adjectives do.

Because Russian normally separates a subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma.

Here:

• Если добавить укроп и свёклу = subordinate if clause
• борщ станет ярче и вкуснее = main clause

So the comma is required:

• Если добавить укроп и свёклу, борщ станет ярче и вкуснее.

If you reverse the order, Russian still uses a comma:

• Борщ станет ярче и вкуснее, если добавить укроп и свёклу.

Yes, but that is normal in Russian.

In Если добавить укроп и свёклу, no person is named. Russian often leaves the doer unstated when it is generic, obvious, or unimportant.

English usually needs something like:

• if you add
• if we add
• if one adds

Russian can simply say если добавить.

This gives the sentence a neutral, instructional feel, which is very common in cooking language.

Yes. Russian word order is fairly flexible.

The given sentence starts with the condition:

• Если добавить укроп и свёклу, борщ станет ярче и вкуснее.

You could also say:

• Борщ станет ярче и вкуснее, если добавить укроп и свёклу.

The meaning stays basically the same. The difference is emphasis:

• starting with если... foregrounds the condition
• starting with борщ станет... foregrounds the result

The original version sounds very natural.

The letter ё is important:

• it is pronounced yo
• it is always stressed

So свёклу is pronounced with stress on that syllable.

A useful thing to know is that many Russian texts write е instead of ё, so you may sometimes see свеклу in print. Even then, the word is still usually understood and pronounced as свёклу.

For learners, this matters because ё helps with both pronunciation and stress.

That version would be more explicit and more directly addressed to the listener:

• Если вы добавите укроп и свёклу, борщ станет ярче и вкуснее.

This means specifically if you add dill and beetroot.

The original:

• Если добавить укроп и свёклу...

is more general, impersonal, and recipe-like.

So the difference is mostly one of style:

• если добавить = general instruction / general condition
• если вы добавите = directly speaking to you