Breakdown of Если ты посадишь здесь дерево, то оно будет расти без воды.
вода
water
здесь
here
оно
it
ты
you (singular)
дерево
tree
быть
to be
без
without
если
if
то
then (in that case)
расти
to grow
посадить
to plant
Questions & Answers about Если ты посадишь здесь дерево, то оно будет расти без воды.
Why does Russian use the future tense (посадишь) for 'If you plant'? English uses the present tense.
In Russian, if the condition is about the future, you must use the future tense in the Если (if) clause. English says 'If you plant...' using the present, but because the planting hasn't happened yet, Russian requires the logical future: 'If you will plant...'.
Do I always have to use то in an Если sentence?
No, it is optional. то translates to 'then' and nicely connects the two halves of the condition. You can leave it out and just use a comma, exactly like dropping 'then' in English.
Why is the future tense one word (посадишь) in the first half, but two words (будет расти) in the second half?
This is because of verb aspects. посадить is a perfective verb (a completed action: planting the tree), which forms its future tense in a single word. расти (to grow) is an imperfective verb (an ongoing process), so its future tense needs a form of быть (to be) plus the infinitive.
Why does the second part use оно instead of он or она for 'it'?
оно is the pronoun for neuter nouns. It refers back to дерево (tree), which is neuter because it ends in -о.
Why did вода (water) change to воды at the end of the sentence?
The preposition без (without) always forces the noun that follows it into the genitive case. For a feminine noun like вода, the genitive ending is -ы.
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