Якщо кран знову тече, зателефонуй Олені: вона вміє спокійно пояснити, що зламалося.

Because зателефонувати / телефонувати takes the dative case in Ukrainian.

So:

• Олена = nominative, the basic dictionary form
• Олені = dative, meaning to Olena

In Ukrainian, you literally phone to someone, not phone someone as a direct object.

Examples:

• Зателефонуй Олені. = Call Olena.
• Я телефоную братові. = I’m calling my brother.

This is very common and important to remember with verbs of calling by phone.

Зателефонуй is the imperative form, meaning a command or instruction: call.

It is:

• 2nd person singular
• used when speaking to one person
• usually informal or neutral depending on context

So:

• зателефонуй = call! / give a call!

A polite or plural version would be:

• зателефонуйте

Because the sentence is giving advice or an instruction, the imperative is the natural choice.

In Ukrainian, the subject pronoun is often omitted when it is already clear from the verb ending.

So зателефонуй already tells you that the speaker means you singular.

Compare:

• Ти зателефонуй Олені. = You call Olena.
• Зателефонуй Олені. = Call Olena.

The version without ти is more natural in most cases unless you want extra emphasis.

Якщо usually means if.

In this sentence:

• Якщо кран знову тече... = If the tap/faucet is leaking again...

It introduces a condition.

Ukrainian also has other conditional words, but якщо is the standard, straightforward way to say if.

In everyday speech, you may also hear коли in some contexts where English would still say if, but якщо is the clearest conditional form here.

Yes, тече literally comes from the verb текти, meaning to flow, run, leak.

With liquids, Ukrainian often uses this verb where English specifically says leak.

So:

• вода тече = the water is flowing / running
• кран тече = the tap/faucet is leaking

This is a very natural Ukrainian way to say it. English and Ukrainian divide the meaning a bit differently here.

Знову means again.

In Ukrainian, adverbs like this are often placed before the verb:

• кран знову тече = the tap is leaking again

This placement is very natural. Ukrainian word order is flexible, but this order is neutral and common.

You could sometimes move знову for emphasis, but the given sentence sounds standard and unmarked.

The colon connects the two parts very naturally:

• Якщо кран знову тече, зателефонуй Олені:
• вона вміє спокійно пояснити, що зламалося.

It works like because / here’s why.

So the second part explains the reason for the instruction:

• Call Olena: she knows how to calmly explain what broke.

In English, you might use a colon, dash, or even a separate sentence. In Ukrainian, this colon is perfectly natural.

This is an important distinction.

• вміти = to know how, to have the skill
• могти = to be able to, to be capable, to have the possibility

So:

• вона вміє пояснити = she knows how to explain / she is good at explaining
• вона може пояснити = she can explain

Here вміє suggests skill, not just possibility. The sentence implies that Olena is good at explaining things clearly and calmly.

Спокійно means calmly.

It is an adverb because it describes how she explains:

• вона вміє спокійно пояснити = she knows how to explain calmly

Related forms:

• спокійний = calm, calm person/object
• спокійна = calm, feminine
• спокійно = calmly / in a calm way

So Ukrainian uses the adverb here just like English uses calmly.

This is about verb aspect.

• пояснити = perfective, to explain successfully / to give an explanation as a completed action
• пояснювати = imperfective, to be explaining / to explain in general or repeatedly

After вміє both can appear in some contexts, but пояснити here sounds natural because it focuses on the successful result: she can explain it.

So:

• вміє пояснити = she knows how to explain
• вміє пояснювати = she is skilled at explaining, more general/process-oriented

Both are possible in the right context, but the sentence with пояснити is very idiomatic.

Because що here means what, and in Ukrainian it is treated as neuter singular in this kind of clause.

So:

• що зламалося = what broke / what has broken

The verb зламалося is the past tense neuter singular form.

Compare:

• кран зламався = the tap broke down
  because кран is masculine
• лампа зламалась = the lamp broke
  because лампа is feminine
• що зламалося? = what broke?
  because the thing is unknown, so neuter is used

This is very normal in Ukrainian.

Here it means what broke.

The word що can mean different things depending on context, including:

• that
• what

In this sentence:

• пояснити, що зламалося = explain what broke / explain what has gone wrong

So even though що often introduces a that-clause, here it is functioning more like what.

Yes, it could be omitted in some contexts, but including вона is natural here.

• вона вміє спокійно пояснити... = she knows how to explain calmly...

The pronoun helps clearly refer back to Олені and makes the sentence flow naturally after the colon.

Without it, you might get:

• ...зателефонуй Олені: вміє спокійно пояснити...

That is less natural because the subject is less explicit. So вона is useful and idiomatic here.

Кран is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the verb тече.

• кран тече = the tap is leaking

Here кран is the thing doing the action, so nominative is expected.

Its basic form is also кран, so nominative singular and dictionary form are the same here.

It can correspond to either tap or faucet, depending on the variety of English you use.

In this sentence, кран means the household water tap/faucet.

Be aware that кран can also mean other kinds of crane or valve/tap depending on context, but in everyday home-repair language it often means a water tap.

Because Ukrainian, like English, often uses the present tense in conditional clauses when talking about a real possible situation.

• Якщо кран знову тече... = If the tap is leaking again...

This does not mean it is definitely happening right now in every case; it presents the condition in a natural, current/relevant way.

Compare English:

• If the tap is leaking again, call Olena.

So the tense works very similarly here.

Sometimes коли can mean when, and in some contexts it may overlap with if, but here якщо is better because the sentence expresses a condition.

• Якщо кран знову тече... = If the tap is leaking again...
• Коли кран знову тече... = When the tap is leaking again...

Using коли would make it sound more like a repeated or expected situation, while якщо focuses on the condition itself.

No, Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible, but the given order is neutral and natural.

For example, the original sentence:

• Якщо кран знову тече, зателефонуй Олені...

is the most straightforward way to present:

1. the condition
2. the instruction
3. the explanation

You could rearrange parts for emphasis, but the original version is what a learner should treat as the standard pattern.

Yes. It sounds natural, conversational, and practical.

A few things create that tone:

• зателефонуй gives friendly direct advice
• Олені makes it personal and specific
• вона вміє спокійно пояснити suggests competence and reassurance
• що зламалося keeps the problem general and natural

So the sentence is a good example of everyday spoken Ukrainian with normal grammar and idiomatic wording.