Breakdown of Не переходи дорогу ночью.
не
not
ночью
at night
дорога
road, way
переходить
to cross (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Не переходи дорогу ночью.
Why do we use the imperfective verb переходи here? Crossing a road feels like a single, completed action.
This highlights the core rule for negative commands (prohibitions) in Russian! When you tell someone NOT to do something, you almost always use не plus the imperfective imperative, regardless of whether it's a single action or a repeated one.
If I wanted to tell someone to actually "Cross the road!", would I still use переходи?
Usually no. For an affirmative command to complete a single, specific action, you switch to the perfective aspect. You would say перейди дорогу! (Cross the road!).
Why is the word for road spelled дорогу instead of the dictionary form дорога?
It is the direct object of the verb because it is the thing being crossed. The verb requires the accusative case, and for feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative case changes that ending to -у.
What grammar rule makes the word for night ночью here?
It is in the instrumental case. In Russian, the instrumental case is often used with times of day to mean "during" or "at" that time. Just like утром means "in the morning", the instrumental form of ночь is ночью, which translates to "at night".
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