Не торкайтеся мокрого дроту під час короткого замикання.

Торкайтеся is the imperative form, used for a command or instruction. In this sentence it is the plural / polite imperative of торкатися.

So it can mean:

• speaking to more than one person, or
• speaking to one person formally/politely

That is very common in warnings, instructions, and safety notices.

Related forms:

• торкайся = touch (singular, informal)
• торкайтеся = touch (plural or polite)

Because the sentence begins with Не, the full meaning is a negative command: do not touch.

The ending -ся is part of the verb itself: торкатися.

Many Ukrainian verbs have -ся / -сь, often called the reflexive marker, but it does not always mean a literal reflexive action like English wash oneself. In this case, you should learn торкатися as the normal verb meaning to touch.

So:

• торкатися = to touch
• не торкайтеся = do not touch

It is best to memorize this verb together with the case it requires:

• торкатися чого? = to touch what? → genitive case

Because торкатися takes the genitive case, not the nominative.

Dictionary forms:

• мокрий = wet
• дріт = wire

But after торкатися, they change to genitive singular:

• мокрого
• дроту

So:

• дріт → дроту
• мокрий дріт → мокрого дроту

This is one of the key things learners need to remember with this verb:

• торкатися чого? = to touch something

It is singular.

The dictionary form is дріт = wire.
The form дроту is genitive singular.

So the phrase means of the wet wire grammatically, even though in natural English we simply say the wet wire after touch.

Під час takes the genitive case.

That is why you get:

• коротке замикання → nominative
• під час короткого замикання → genitive

So:

• короткого is genitive singular of коротке
• замикання is genitive singular of замикання

A useful pattern to remember is:

• під час уроку = during the lesson
• під час війни = during the war
• під час короткого замикання = during a short circuit

Literally, it means short closing / short connection, but as a fixed technical expression it means short circuit.

Breakdown:

• коротке = short
• замикання = closing, connection, circuit closure

In real usage, коротке замикання is the standard Ukrainian term for a short circuit.

It only looks that way at first. Короткого here is actually the genitive singular form used for both:

• masculine adjectives, and
• neuter adjectives

Since замикання is neuter, the adjective agrees with it in:

• gender: neuter
• number: singular
• case: genitive

So:

• nominative neuter: коротке замикання
• genitive neuter: короткого замикання

This is normal adjective agreement in Ukrainian.

Yes, it is very natural, especially in instructions or warnings.

A few related possibilities are:

• Не торкайтеся ... = Do not touch ...
• Не чіпайте ... = Do not touch / don't mess with ...

The difference is that торкатися is more specifically to make contact with, while чіпати can also mean to handle, disturb, bother, mess with depending on context.

In a safety warning, Не торкайтеся sounds precise and appropriate.

Yes, Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible, but this order is very natural.

It is structured as:

• Не торкайтеся = command
• мокрого дроту = object
• під час короткого замикання = time/circumstance phrase

This is a neutral, clear order for a warning.

You could move parts around for emphasis, for example:

• Під час короткого замикання не торкайтеся мокрого дроту.

That puts more emphasis on the dangerous situation first: During a short circuit, do not touch the wet wire.

Торкатися is the imperfective verb. Its perfective partner is торкнутися.

In many commands, both aspects are possible, but they can feel slightly different depending on context. In warnings and general instructions, the imperfective often works well because it expresses a general prohibition:

• Не торкайтеся = do not touch / do not be touching

That fits a safety rule very naturally.

The perfective не торкніться would be much less likely here. For warnings like this, не торкайтеся is the normal choice.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• торкайтеся ≈ tor-KAI-te-sya
• дроту ≈ DRO-tu

A few helpful notes:

• Ukrainian г is usually pronounced like a soft h sound, but there is no г in these two words.
• я in -ся sounds like ya
• Stress in торкайтеся is on кай
• Stress in дроту is usually on the first syllable: дро-

If you want, you can read the whole sentence roughly as:

Ne tor-KAI-te-sya MO-kro-ho DRO-tu pid chas ko-ROT-ko-ho za-MY-kan-nya.

Yes. You could say:

Не торкайтеся дроту під час короткого замикання.

That means Do not touch the wire during a short circuit.

Adding мокрого makes the warning more specific:

• дроту = wire
• мокрого дроту = wet wire

The adjective follows the same case as the noun, so once дроту is in the genitive, мокрий also changes to мокрого.