Если мне что-то непонятно, я уточняю детали у преподавательницы.

Yes, Если usually means if and introduces a condition.

In this sentence:

Если мне что-то непонятно, я уточняю детали у преподавательницы.

the meaning is something like:

If something is unclear to me, I clarify the details with/from the teacher.

Russian often uses the present tense here to describe a general habit or repeated situation, not just one specific moment.

Because Russian uses a different structure from English here.

Literally, мне что-то непонятно means:

To me, something is unclear.

So мне is the dative case of я, and it shows the person who experiences the feeling or situation.

This pattern is very common in Russian:

• мне интересно = I am interested / It is interesting to me
• мне холодно = I am cold
• мне непонятно = It is unclear to me

So Russian does not say this the same way English does.

Что-то means something.

So:

• что = what
• что-то = something

In the sentence, что-то непонятно means something is unclear.

This is a very common indefinite word in Russian:

• кто-то = someone
• где-то = somewhere
• когда-то = sometime
• что-то = something

Here непонятно is a short-form predicative adjective/adverb-like form, not a full adjective modifying a noun.

It is used in impersonal-style expressions like:

• Мне понятно. = It is clear to me.
• Мне непонятно. = It is unclear to me.
• Ему интересно. = He is interested / It is interesting to him.

So in мне что-то непонятно, непонятно means unclear in the sense of it is unclear.

If you used непонятный, that would normally describe a noun directly:

• непонятный вопрос = an unclear question

But that is not the structure used here.

Because the sentence has two clauses:

1. Если мне что-то непонятно
2. я уточняю детали у преподавательницы

In Russian, a subordinate clause introduced by если is separated by a comma from the main clause.

So the comma is required.

Here the present tense expresses a habitual action:

Whenever something is unclear to me, I ask the teacher for clarification.

Russian often uses the present tense for repeated or usual actions.

So я уточняю here means:

• I clarify
• I ask for clarification
• I check the details

If you wanted a one-time future meaning, the sentence might look different, for example with future forms.

Not exactly.

Уточнять means:

• to clarify
• to make more precise
• to check details
• to уточнить / pin down exactly

So я уточняю детали means more than just I ask. It suggests that the speaker is trying to make something more exact or fully clear.

Compare:

• я спрашиваю = I ask
• я уточняю = I clarify / I ask to clarify / I verify more precisely

This verb is often used when you already know something generally, but need the exact details.

Because уточняю is the 1st person singular present tense of the imperfective verb уточнять.

• уточнять = imperfective, ongoing/repeated/habitual
• уточнить = perfective, one completed act of clarification

Since the sentence describes a repeated habit, the imperfective уточняю is the natural choice.

Compare:

• Если мне что-то непонятно, я уточняю детали...
  = Whenever something is unclear, I clarify the details...

• Я уточню детали позже.
  = I will clarify the details later.

Детали is the accusative plural of деталь.

Here it is the direct object of уточняю:

• уточняю что? → детали

Since деталь is an inanimate feminine noun, its accusative plural is the same as the nominative plural:

• nominative plural: детали
• accusative plural: детали

So я уточняю детали means I clarify the details.

Because у + genitive is a common way to mean from someone, with someone, or by asking someone depending on context.

So:

у преподавательницы literally means at the female teacher's place / from the female teacher

but in natural English here it means:

• with the teacher
• from the teacher
• by asking the teacher

The noun преподавательницы is in the genitive singular because у requires the genitive.

Compare:

• спросить у друга = ask a friend
• узнать у коллеги = find out from a colleague
• уточнить у преподавательницы = clarify with/from the teacher

Both can mean female teacher, but they are used a bit differently.

• учительница is more often a school teacher
• преподавательница is more often an instructor/teacher at a higher level, such as a university teacher, course instructor, or specialist teacher

So преподавательница sounds very natural if we are talking about a teacher in a course, college, university, or adult learning setting.

Because the noun is преподавательница, which specifically means a female teacher.

If the teacher were male, you would say:

Если мне что-то непонятно, я уточняю детали у преподавателя.

Russian nouns often show gender clearly, especially for professions when a specifically feminine form is used.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English, although each order can slightly change emphasis.

The given version is neutral and natural:

Если мне что-то непонятно, я уточняю детали у преподавательницы.

Other possible versions include:

• Если мне что-то непонятно, у преподавательницы я уточняю детали.
• Я уточняю детали у преподавательницы, если мне что-то непонятно.

These are still understandable, but the original sentence sounds the most straightforward and natural for a general statement.

Yes, in meaning it is very close.

Мне что-то непонятно can often be translated as:

• I don't understand something
• Something is unclear to me
• There's something I don't understand

The Russian phrasing is a bit less direct than Я что-то не понимаю, which literally means I don't understand something.

Compare:

• Мне что-то непонятно = something is unclear to me
• Я что-то не понимаю = I don't understand something

Both are common, but the first one sounds a little more like describing a situation, while the second one sounds more direct.

It describes a general habit or usual behavior.

The clues are:

• Если = if / whenever
• present tense непонятно
• present tense уточняю

Together they give the sense:

Whenever something is unclear to me, I clarify the details with the teacher.

If you wanted to describe one specific event, Russian would usually show that more clearly through context or aspect choices.