Здесь опасные ступеньки, смотрите, не упадите!
There are dangerous steps here, watch out, don't fall!
Breakdown of Здесь опасные ступеньки, смотрите, не упадите!
не
not
здесь
here
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
опасный
dangerous
Questions & Answers about Здесь опасные ступеньки, смотрите, не упадите!
Normally, negative commands use imperfective verbs. Why does не упадите use a perfective verb here?
You are right that standard negative commands (like 'don't smoke') use the imperfective aspect. However, when you are warning someone not to do something accidentally (like falling, dropping something, or getting sick), you use the perfective aspect. The phrase смотрите, не... (watch out, don't...) is a classic trigger for this specific warning structure.
The lesson mentions the Perfective Future, but упадите is an imperative form. Can both be used?
Yes! Упадите is indeed the perfective imperative. For warnings starting with смотрите, не, Russian speakers use both the perfective imperative (не упадите) and the perfective future (не упадёте) interchangeably. Both mean exactly the same thing in this context, but the imperative form shown here is very common in everyday speech.
What is the difference between using ступеньки and лестница for 'stairs'?
Лестница refers to a whole staircase or a ladder. Ступеньки is the plural form of ступенька (a step or stair) and refers to the individual steps themselves. Here, the speaker is pointing out that these specific steps are dangerous to walk on.
Why are there commas before and after смотрите?
In this type of warning, смотрите (or the informal смотри) acts as an introductory exclamation, much like saying 'careful!' or 'mind you!' in English. The commas separate this exclamation from the context (the dangerous steps) and the negative command (don't fall).