Breakdown of Иди быстрее, иначе будет поздно.
быстро
fast, quickly
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
быть
to be
поздно
late
Questions & Answers about Иди быстрее, иначе будет поздно.
Why is the imperfective verb иди used here instead of a perfective verb?
For immediate commands to do something right now or to adjust an ongoing action, Russian uses the imperfective aspect. Since the speaker is telling someone who is likely already walking to walk faster in this exact moment, the imperfective иди is the natural choice.
How do we form the comparative быстрее?
быстрее is the comparative form of both the adjective быстрый (fast) and the adverb быстро (quickly). To form it, you drop the ending of the base word and add the suffix -ее. Here, it acts as an adverb modifying the verb иди.
What kind of word is иначе?
иначе translates to 'otherwise' or 'or else'. It is a conjunction used to show the consequence of not following the command in the first half of the sentence. It is a very common connecting word that doesn't change its form.
Why is there no subject word like 'it' in будет поздно?
This is an impersonal sentence. While English requires a dummy subject like 'it' to say 'it will be late', Russian simply uses the future tense verb будет (will be) paired with the adverb поздно (late) without any pronoun.