Questions & Answers about Перейди мост и подожди нас.
Why do we use the perfective verbs перейди and подожди for these commands?
These are affirmative (positive) commands asking someone to complete a specific, one-time action. In Russian, when you want someone to successfully finish an action, you use the perfective aspect for the imperative.
How would I make the first part negative, like Don't cross the bridge?
You would add не, but you also must switch to the imperfective aspect. Negative commands (prohibitions) almost always use the imperfective. So you would say не переходи мост.
Why does подожди have the prefix по- instead of just being жди?
Подожди is the perfective form of the verb, which fits this specific one-time instruction. Жди is the imperfective form, which you would use if you wanted to say keep waiting or if you were giving a negative command like не жди (don't wait).
What case is мост in this sentence?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb (the thing being crossed). Since мост is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living thing), its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary form.
Why do we use нас for us here?
The verb подождать (to wait for) requires its object to be in the accusative or genitive case. For pronouns referring to people, the accusative and genitive forms are the same. Нас is the correct form of мы (we) to use here.
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