Breakdown of Суп очень горячий, смотрите, не обожгитесь!
не
not
очень
very
суп
soup
горячий
hot
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
обжечься
to burn oneself
Questions & Answers about Суп очень горячий, смотрите, не обожгитесь!
Normally, negative commands take the imperfective aspect. Why do we use the perfective verb обожгитесь here?
You are right that regular negative commands use the imperfective aspect to tell someone not to do an action on purpose. However, when you warn someone about an accidental negative result (like burning yourself), you use the perfective aspect. The phrase смотрите, не is a common trigger for these perfective warnings.
The lesson mentions using the perfective future for these warnings, but обожгитесь is in the imperative form. Are both okay?
Yes! When giving a warning with смотри, не or смотрите, не, Russians use either the perfective imperative (не обожгитесь) or the perfective future (не обожжётесь). Both are grammatically correct and very common for expressing 'make sure you do not do this by accident'.
Could I use жаркий instead of горячий to say the soup is hot?
No, you can only use горячий here. Горячий is used for physical objects that are hot to the touch or to eat, like soup, water, or a stove. Жаркий is used to describe hot weather, a hot climate, or a heated situation.
What is the infinitive of обожгитесь and why does it end in -тесь?
The infinitive is обжечься (to burn oneself). The -тесь ending is used because this is the plural or formal imperative form. Since the speaker is addressing a plural or formal 'you' (as shown by the matching formal/plural command смотрите), the reflexive particle -ся becomes -тесь to match the imperative ending.
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