Breakdown of Раз всё готово, начинаем.
начинать
to begin
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone (весь, вся, всё, все)
готов
ready (готов, готова, готовы)
раз
since, seeing that (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Раз всё готово, начинаем.
I usually see раз translated as "one" or "time". How does it mean "given that" here?
When used as a conjunction at the beginning of a clause, раз means "since," "once," or "given that." It introduces a condition or reason that is already an established fact. You can think of it as a casual, everyday way to say "Since it is the case that..."
Why does this sentence use the neuter short-form adjective готово?
The adjective has to agree with всё (everything), which is a neuter singular pronoun. A common pitfall is confusing this with все (everyone), which is plural and would require the plural adjective: все готовы (everyone is ready).
The translation says "let us begin," but начинаем just means "we begin". Why not use давайте начнём?
In Russian, the first-person plural present tense (начинаем) is frequently used as a direct, energetic way to say "let's do this." While давайте начнём is correct, it sounds slightly more formal or like a proposal to the group. Начинаем implies the action is kicking off right this very second.
Could we use the perfective future начнём instead of the imperfective начинаем here?
Yes, начнём is also very common here and functions as a standard "let's begin." Using the imperfective present начинаем just places a tiny bit more emphasis on the actual process getting underway immediately.
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