Breakdown of Ты неплохо говоришь по-русски!
ты
you (singular)
говорить
to speak, to talk
по-русски
in Russian
неплохо
not bad, quite well
Questions & Answers about Ты неплохо говоришь по-русски!
Why is неплохо written as one word here instead of two (не плохо)?
When не and an adverb ending in -о form a single, affirmative concept (like 'quite well' or 'decently'), it is written as one word. You would only write it as two words (не плохо) if you were explicitly contrasting it with something else, for example: Он говорит не плохо, а ужасно (He speaks not poorly, but terribly).
In English, the translation says 'quite well', but doesn't неплохо literally mean 'not bad'?
Yes, literally it means 'not bad'. However, Russian frequently uses understatement to express a positive quality. In everyday conversation, telling someone they do something неплохо is a genuine compliment that often translates better to 'quite well' or 'good' rather than a literal, mediocre 'not bad'.
Could I say на русском instead of по-русски in this sentence?
You can, but по-русски is the most natural and traditional choice with the verb говорить (to speak). The phrase на русском is perfectly correct, but it is more often used when focusing on the language as a medium (like when reading, typing, or writing a letter), whereas по-русски is the classic adverb for the physical manner of speaking.
Could I change the word order and say Ты говоришь по-русски неплохо?