После нереста малёк спрятался за камнем.

after

Breakdown of После нереста малёк спрятался за камнем.

• за: behind
• камень: the stone
• спрятаться: to hide

Questions & Answers about После нереста малёк спрятался за камнем.

Why is нереста not нерест?

Because после requires the genitive case.

• Dictionary form: нерест
• Genitive singular: нереста

So после нереста follows the standard pattern после + genitive, meaning after spawning or after the spawning period/event.

Why does Russian use после нереста instead of a verb form like after spawning?

Russian often uses a noun naming the event after a preposition, where English might use a gerund.

So:

• после нереста = literally after the spawning event
• natural English = after spawning

If Russian wanted a full clause with a verb, it would usually need something longer, such as после того, как.... In this sentence, the noun phrase is shorter and very natural.

What exactly does малёк mean?

Малёк means a young fish, especially a fry.

A few useful details:

• it is a masculine noun
• it refers to a small fish, not just anything small
• the ё is important for pronunciation and stress

So the subject of the sentence is the fry / a young fish.

Why is the verb спрятался and not спряталась or спряталось?