Breakdown of Если вы пойдёте туда одни, смотрите, не ушибитесь о скалы!
не
not
вы
you (plural or formal)
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
туда
there (destination)
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
если
if
один
alone
скала
cliff
о
against (contact)
ушибиться
to hurt oneself
Questions & Answers about Если вы пойдёте туда одни, смотрите, не ушибитесь о скалы!
Why is the perfective imperative не ушибитесь used here instead of the imperfective?
Usually, negative commands in Russian use the imperfective aspect to tell someone not to perform an action. However, this sentence is a warning about accidentally doing something you want to avoid. For warnings of prevention, meaning be careful not to do something, you must use не plus the perfective imperative.
How does смотрите work in this sentence?
While смотрите literally means look, it is frequently used as a warning phrase meaning watch out or be careful. It acts as a set phrase here and pairs perfectly with the warning pattern of не plus the perfective imperative.
Why does the condition use the future tense пойдёте when the English translation uses the present tense go?
In Russian, if the condition refers to a future event, you must use the future tense after если. English often uses the present tense for future conditions, but Russian strictly requires the future form пойдёте for logical consistency.
What case is скалы in after the preposition о, and why?
It is in the accusative case. You likely know the preposition о takes the prepositional case when discussing a topic, but it requires the accusative case when describing physical contact, such as bumping, hitting, or hurting yourself against a surface.
Is the verb ушибиться related to the word ошибка?
Yes, they share a historical root meaning to hit or to miss. However, their modern meanings are distinct. The verb ушибиться means to physically bruise or hurt oneself by hitting against something, while ошибка means a mistake.
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