Breakdown of Не промочи ноги, если пойдёшь через ручей.
не
not
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
если
if
через
through
нога
leg, foot
ручей
stream
промочить
to soak
Questions & Answers about Не промочи ноги, если пойдёшь через ручей.
Why do we use the perfective imperative промочи here instead of the imperfective?
Normally, a negative command ("don't do something") requires the imperfective aspect in Russian. However, this sentence is a warning about an accidental, undesirable result. When warning someone to prevent an accident ("be careful not to..."), you use не plus the perfective imperative.
Why is the object just ноги (feet) rather than something like свои ноги (your feet)?
In Russian, when you are talking about an action happening to your own body parts, possessive pronouns like свои (one's own) or твои (your) are almost always dropped. The context makes it obvious whose feet are getting wet.
Why do we use the future tense пойдёшь in the "if" clause, while the English translation uses the present tense "go"?
English grammar requires the present tense for future events in "if" clauses (e.g., "if it rains"). Russian is more strictly logical about time: since the action of crossing the stream will actually happen in the future, the future tense пойдёшь must be used.
What case is ручей (stream) in after через?
It is in the accusative case. The preposition через (across or through) always requires the accusative case to show the path of motion. Because ручей is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly like its nominative dictionary form.
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