На гололёде мои ботинки скользят, поэтому я иду очень осторожно.

Russian usually uses на with surface-like conditions or situations connected with a surface. Гололёд means icy conditions / ice on the ground, so на гололёде literally feels like on the ice / on icy ground.

So:

• на гололёде = on icy ground, in icy conditions

Using в here would sound unnatural in standard Russian.

Not exactly. Лёд is simply ice. Гололёд is a more specific word for icy conditions, especially when roads or sidewalks are covered with a thin slippery layer of ice.

So:

• лёд = ice
• гололёд = black ice / icy conditions / dangerous slipperiness outdoors

That is why на гололёде is more natural here than на льду, unless you literally mean being on a sheet of ice.

Because it follows the preposition на, which here requires the prepositional case.

Base form:

• гололёд

Prepositional singular:

• о гололёде
• на гололёде

This is a very common pattern:

• на столе = on the table
• на мосту = on the bridge
• на гололёде = on icy ground

Because ботинки is plural, so the possessive pronoun must also be plural.

Forms of мой:

• мой = masculine singular
• моя = feminine singular
• моё = neuter singular
• мои = plural

Since ботинки means boots and is plural, you need:

• мои ботинки

Because the subject is ботинки, which is plural. In Russian, the verb agrees with the subject in number.

• ботинок скользит = the boot slips
• ботинки скользят = the boots slip

Even though in English you might more naturally say my boots are slipping or my feet are slipping, Russian is perfectly happy with boots as the subject.

Скользят is present tense, imperfective. It describes what is happening generally or right now in this situation.

Here it means something like:

• my boots slip
• my boots are slipping

The imperfective is natural because this is an ongoing condition, not a single completed action.

Compare:

• ботинки скользят = the boots are slippery / keep slipping
• ботинки поскользнулись = the boots slipped once (completed event; less natural in this exact sentence)

Yes, in this sentence поэтому means therefore / so / that’s why. It introduces the result of what was said before.

Structure:

• cause: На гололёде мои ботинки скользят
• result: поэтому я иду очень осторожно

So it works much like English so:

• It’s icy, so I walk very carefully.

Other similar connectors include:

• поэтому = therefore, so
• так что = so, so that, as a result

This is a very common question. Russian has two verbs for to go on foot:

• идти = to be going, to go in one direction, right now or in a specific instance
• ходить = to go habitually, repeatedly, or in different directions

Here the sentence describes what the speaker is doing in this specific situation:

• я иду очень осторожно = I am walking very carefully / I walk very carefully

If you said я хожу очень осторожно, it would sound more like a general habit:

• I generally walk carefully

Осторожно is an adverb, meaning carefully / cautiously. It describes how the person is walking.

It comes from the adjective:

• осторожный = careful, cautious

Examples:

• осторожный человек = a careful person
• идти осторожно = to walk carefully

Because it is an adverb, it does not change for gender, number, or case.

Because очень осторожно modifies the verb иду, not the pronoun я.

• очень = very
• осторожно = carefully

Together:

• иду очень осторожно = I walk very carefully

If you wanted to describe yourself as a careful person, you would use an adjective:

• Я очень осторожный = I am very careful (masculine speaker)
• Я очень осторожная = I am very careful (feminine speaker)

But here the sentence is about how the walking happens, so the adverb осторожно is correct.

Yes, it can be rearranged, because Russian word order is more flexible than English. The original sentence is neutral and natural:

• На гололёде мои ботинки скользят, поэтому я иду очень осторожно.

You could also say:

• Мои ботинки скользят на гололёде, поэтому я иду очень осторожно.

Both are understandable. Putting на гололёде first gives the icy condition as the setting right away. That often sounds very natural in Russian.

Russian does not normally use a present-tense form of to be the way English does.

So where English says:

• My boots are slippery
• I am walking carefully

Russian often simply uses the main verb or omits to be in the present:

• ботинки скользят
• я иду

This is completely normal. Russian present-tense sentences usually do not need a separate word for am / is / are.

Yes, it matters for pronunciation and stress. Ё is always stressed.

So:

• гололёд is pronounced with stress on the last syllable
• гололёде keeps the stressed ё

Many printed texts replace ё with е, but for learners it is helpful to keep ё whenever possible, because it shows the correct pronunciation more clearly.