Не забудь спички: без них трудно разжечь костёр или горелку.

Не забудь is the perfective imperative of забыть. It is used for a one-time reminder: make sure you don’t forget this.

Не забывай is the imperfective imperative of забывать. It usually sounds more like:

• a repeated reminder,
• a general habit,
• or “don’t keep forgetting.”

So in this sentence, не забудь fits better because the speaker is talking about one specific situation.

Also:

• не забудь = informal singular
• не забудьте = formal singular or plural

The singular is спичка = a match.

But in real life, you normally take more than one match, so Russian often uses the plural спички, just like English often says matches.

• Не забудь спички = don’t forget the matches
• Не забудь спичку = don’t forget the match / one specific match

It is in the accusative plural, because it is the direct object of не забудь.

However, for inanimate nouns in Russian, the accusative plural is often identical to the nominative plural.

So:

• nominative plural: спички
• accusative plural: спички

That is why the form does not change.

Because без always takes the genitive case.

The pronoun for they is они, and its genitive form is их. But after a preposition, Russian normally adds н- to third-person pronouns:

• без них
• у него
• с ней
• к ним

So:

• их = genitive without a preposition
• них = genitive after a preposition

That is why без них is correct.

Because трудно here means it is difficult and is part of an impersonal construction.

Russian often uses:

• трудно + infinitive
• легко + infinitive
• можно + infinitive
• нельзя + infinitive

So:

• без них трудно разжечь... = without them, it is hard to light...

By contrast, трудный is an adjective that describes a noun:

• трудный вопрос = a difficult question
• трудная работа = difficult work

Because after words like трудно, Russian usually uses the infinitive to describe the action in a general way.

Pattern:

• трудно сделать
• легко понять
• нельзя курить

So:

• трудно разжечь костёр = it is hard to light a campfire

This is an impersonal sentence: there is no explicit subject like я or ты.

Both can mean to light / ignite, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

Разжечь often means:

• to kindle
• to get something burning properly
• to start a fire or burner so that it really catches

It is especially natural with things like:

• костёр
• печь
• угли

Зажечь is broader and often means simply:

• to light
• to ignite
• to switch on a flame

For example:

• зажечь свечу = light a candle
• зажечь газ = light the gas

With костёр, разжечь is the most natural choice.

Both nouns are objects of разжечь, so both are in the accusative case.

But they belong to different noun types:

• костёр is masculine singular inanimate

  • nominative: костёр
  • accusative: костёр
    The form stays the same.

• горелка is feminine singular

  • nominative: горелка
  • accusative: горелку
    Feminine nouns in -а usually change to -у in the accusative singular.

So the difference is purely grammatical.

In this context, горелка most likely means a camping burner or portable stove burner.

So the sentence is talking about lighting either:

• a campfire (костёр)
• or a burner/stove (горелку)

This sounds natural in outdoor, travel, hiking, or camping contexts.

The colon introduces an explanation.

The first part gives the instruction:

• Не забудь спички

The second part explains the reason:

• без них трудно разжечь костёр или горелку

Russian often uses a colon this way when the second part explains, clarifies, or justifies the first part.

In English, you might also use:

• a colon,
• a dash,
• or because.

Because спички is plural, the pronoun referring to it must also be plural.

So the logic is:

• спички = plural noun
• corresponding pronoun = они
• after без → них

So без них means without them, where them = the matches.

Yes. Ё is important because it shows both the sound and the stress.

• костёр is stressed on the last syllable
• ё is always stressed when written

So you pronounce it roughly like kas-TYOR

Many Russian texts replace ё with е, but learners should know that the correct form is костёр. In a dictionary or learning material, writing ё helps a lot.