Раз уж стол уже собран, осталось только проверить, не шатается ли одна ножка.

Раз уж is a common conversational connector meaning something like since, now that, or given that.

In this sentence, Раз уж стол уже собран... means:

Since / now that the table is already assembled...

The particle уж adds a slight sense of acceptance or practicality, like well, since that's already the case.

So раз уж is not about time here; it is introducing a reason or starting point for what follows.

They are related historically, but in modern Russian they function differently here.

• уж in раз уж is a particle
• уже means already

So the sentence has:

• раз уж = since / now that
• уже собран = already assembled

That means this is not really simple repetition. The first уж is part of a fixed expression, while the second уже has its normal meaning.

You could say Раз уж стол собран... without the second уже, but keeping it makes the idea of already assembled more explicit.

Собран is the short-form passive participle of собрать.

Here it means:

• the table has been assembled
• or more naturally in English, the table is assembled

This form is very common in Russian when describing a resulting state:

• стол собран = the table is assembled
• дверь закрыта = the door is closed
• работа закончена = the work is finished

Why not собранный? Because собранный is the full form, usually used like an adjective before a noun:

• собранный стол = an assembled table

But in стол собран, Russian uses the short form because it is part of the predicate.

Because стол is the grammatical subject of собран.

In стол собран, Russian treats this like a statement about the table’s state:

• стол = subject
• собран = predicate describing the subject

So nominative is exactly what you would expect.

This is a very common Russian pattern:

осталось + infinitive = it only remains to... / all that's left is to...

Yes, осталось is past tense, but that is normal here. Russian often uses the perfective past of остаться to express the result of what has happened so far:

• the table has been assembled
• therefore, only one task is left

So осталось только проверить means something like:

the only thing left now is to check

It is also neuter singular because this is an impersonal construction. There is no explicit subject like it in Russian, so neuter singular is the default form.

Because проверить is perfective, and here the speaker means do one complete checking action.

So:

• проверить = to check, to verify, to make sure
• проверять = to be checking, to check repeatedly, or to talk about checking as a process/habit

In this sentence, the idea is not spend time checking in general, but carry out one final check. That is why проверить is the natural choice.

Ли introduces an indirect yes/no question, often equivalent to English whether or if.

So:

• проверить, шатается ли ножка = check whether the leg wobbles

In Russian, ли usually comes right after the word it is connected with or the word in focus. Here it follows the verb:

• шатается ли

That word order is very normal.

So the structure is:

• проверить = to check
• не шатается ли одна ножка = whether one leg is wobbling / loose

This is a very common thing in Russian.

After verbs like check, see, find out, make sure, Russian often uses:

не + verb + ли

So:

• проверить, не шатается ли ножка

This often means something like:

• check whether the leg is loose
• make sure the leg isn't wobbling

Even though there is a не, English often translates the whole idea without a literal not.

The не often suggests concern about an undesirable possibility. In other words, the speaker is checking whether there is a problem.

A more neutral version would be:

• проверить, шатается ли ножка

But не шатается ли is very idiomatic and often sounds more natural when you are checking for a possible defect.

Here одна ножка most naturally means one of the legs.

Since the sentence is about a table, Russian does not need to spell out one of the table’s legs. The context makes that obvious.

So:

• одна ножка = one leg
• in context: one of the table’s legs

It is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of шатается:

• одна ножка шатается = one leg is wobbling

If you wanted to be more explicit, you could say:

• одна из ножек

But that is a bit heavier. In ordinary speech, одна ножка is perfectly natural.

For furniture, Russian normally uses ножка, not нога.

So:

• ножка стола = table leg
• ножка стула = chair leg

Even though ножка is historically a diminutive form, in this kind of context it is just the standard word. It does not necessarily sound cute or affectionate.

Using нога for a table leg would sound odd in normal Russian.

The word order is somewhat flexible, but ли has an important rule: it usually comes right after the word it relates to.

That is why:

• не шатается ли одна ножка sounds natural

If you moved things around carelessly, it could sound awkward. Russian often places the verb before ли in this kind of embedded question.

The sentence could be rephrased slightly for different emphasis, but the original order is very standard and natural. The main thing to remember is that ли is not placed randomly; it usually appears immediately after the focused element.