Мне не хочется пересаживаться на другой трамвай, если этот едет до центра.

Because хочется in this pattern does not take a normal nominative subject like я.

• Мне хочется literally means something like to me, it feels like / I feel like.
• So мне is in the dative case, not the nominative.

Compare:

• Я хочу пересесть = I want to change
• Мне хочется пересаживаться = I feel like changing / I would like to change

The second version sounds more about an inner feeling or inclination, and often softer or less direct than я хочу.

Both relate to wanting, but they are used differently.

• Я хочу = I want
  • direct, straightforward
• Мне хочется = I feel like, I’d kind of like to
  • less direct
  • often more emotional or spontaneous
  • can sound softer

In this sentence, Мне не хочется... means:

• I don’t feel like...
• I’d rather not...

That is a very natural way in Russian to express reluctance.

After хочется, Russian usually uses an infinitive to say what the person feels like doing.

Structure:

• мне хочется + infinitive
• мне не хочется + infinitive

Examples:

• Мне хочется спать. = I feel like sleeping / I’m sleepy.
• Мне не хочется идти. = I don’t feel like going.
• Мне не хочется пересаживаться. = I don’t feel like changing.

So пересаживаться is simply the action that the speaker does not feel like doing.

This is about aspect.

• пересесть = perfective
• пересаживаться = imperfective

In this sentence, the imperfective is natural because the speaker is talking about the general action of transferring/changing, not emphasizing a single completed result.

• Мне не хочется пересаживаться... = I don’t feel like changing/transferring...

If you said Мне не хочется пересесть..., it would sound more like I don’t feel like making that one completed switch. That is possible in some contexts, but here the imperfective sounds more natural because the idea is about the process or act in general.

Here пересаживаться means to change from one vehicle to another, or to transfer.

It comes from a verb that can literally suggest moving over / changing seats / switching, but in transport contexts it commonly means:

• to change trains/buses/trams
• to transfer

So:

• пересаживаться на другой трамвай = to change to another tram

Because Russian uses пересаживаться на + accusative to mean change onto / transfer to another vehicle.

So:

• на другой трамвай
• на другой автобус
• на метро (depending on structure/context)

Here другой трамвай is in the accusative case. Since трамвай is masculine inanimate, its accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative: другой трамвай
• accusative: на другой трамвай

This is why the form does not visibly change much.

Because after на the case depends on the meaning.

• на + accusative often means motion toward / onto
• на + prepositional often means location on / in / by means of

Here the meaning is movement to another vehicle:

• пересаживаться на другой трамвай = to transfer onto another tram

But compare:

• Я еду на трамвае. = I’m going by tram
  Here на трамвае is prepositional/instrumental-style transport usage, not motion onto a new vehicle.

So другой трамвай is correct because it is the destination of the transfer.

Этот means this one / this tram. It points to the tram the speaker is currently on or talking about.

• если этот едет до центра = if this one goes to the center

Russian often uses этот the way English uses this one. It helps contrast the current tram with другой трамвай:

• другой трамвай = another tram
• этот = this one

That contrast is important to the sentence.

Russian chooses different verbs of motion depending on the type of movement.

• ехать / едет is used for going by vehicle
• идти / идёт is used for going on foot
• ходить often has a habitual or multidirectional meaning, like go regularly / move around / run

A tram is a vehicle, so:

• трамвай едет = the tram is going / moving

Also compare:

• Я иду в центр. = I’m walking to the center.
• Я еду в центр. = I’m going to the center by vehicle.
• Этот трамвай ходит до центра. can mean This tram runs to the center as a regular route, but едет fits the immediate situation better: this tram is currently going there.

До requires the genitive case, so центр becomes центра.

• nominative: центр
• genitive: центра

The phrase до центра means to the center / as far as the center.

With transport, ехать до + genitive often means:

• to go as far as
• to continue up to

So этот едет до центра means the tram goes all the way to the center.

Yes, but the nuance is a little different.

• едет в центр = goes to the center
• едет до центра = goes as far as the center

In many situations they are both possible, but до центра can emphasize the route endpoint more clearly. In transport contexts, it is very common when talking about whether you need to change vehicles:

• Этот автобус идёт до вокзала?
• Этот трамвай едет до центра?

It highlights: does it continue all the way there, or do I need to transfer?

Because если introduces a subordinate clause.

Main clause:

• Мне не хочется пересаживаться на другой трамвай

Subordinate clause:

• если этот едет до центра

Russian normally separates such clauses with a comma, just as English often does with if-clauses.

Yes, Russian word order is fairly flexible, though different orders can shift emphasis.

The given sentence is natural:

• Мне не хочется пересаживаться на другой трамвай, если этот едет до центра.

But you could also hear:

• Если этот трамвай едет до центра, мне не хочется пересаживаться на другой.
• Мне не хочется на другой трамвай пересаживаться, если этот едет до центра.

The original version sounds conversational and neutral enough. Russian often uses word order to manage emphasis rather than basic grammar, since the cases already show the relationships.

Because Russian often omits a noun when it is obvious from context.

• если этот едет до центра literally means if this one goes to the center
• The noun трамвай is understood from the earlier phrase другой трамвай

English does the same:

• I don’t want to change to another tram if this one goes to the center.

We say this one, not this tram every time. Russian этот works similarly here.

Yes, it is natural and understandable.

A speaker might also say slightly different versions, for example:

• Мне не хочется пересаживаться, если этот трамвай идёт до центра.
• Не хочется пересаживаться на другой трамвай, если этот едет до центра.
• Если этот трамвай едет до центра, не хочется пересаживаться.

But the original sentence is perfectly normal. The key conversational idea is very natural in Russian:

• Мне не хочется... = I don’t feel like...
• пересаживаться = transferring/changing
• если этот едет до центра = if this one goes all the way to the center