Learn Hardcore Russian: Раз уж стол уже собран, осталось только проверить, не шатается ли одна ножка. - Since the table is already assembled, the only thing left is to check whether one leg is wobbling.

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

What does раз уж mean here?

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.

Why do I see both уж and уже? Are they the same word?

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

So the sentence has:

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.

Why is собран used here? What form is it?