Пришейте пуговицу к пальто.

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Breakdown of Пришейте пуговицу к пальто.

• пальто: the coat
• пуговица: the button
• пришить: to sew on

Questions & Answers about Пришейте пуговицу к пальто.

Why is the verb пришейте used here instead of just шейте?

Пришейте comes from пришить, which means to sew on / attach by sewing. The prefix при- adds the idea of attaching something to something else.

So:

• шить = to sew
• пришить = to sew on, sew onto, attach by sewing

In this sentence, the goal is not just the general action of sewing, but specifically attaching a button to a coat, so пришейте is the natural choice.

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Why does пришейте end in -те?

The ending -те marks the imperative plural or polite imperative.

So:

• пришей = sew on! (to one person, informal)
• пришейте = sew on! (to several people, or to one person politely)

In instructions, requests, and formal speech, Russian very often uses the -те form.

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Is пришейте perfective or imperfective, and why does that matter?