Learn Hardcore Russian: Мама готовит торт для друга.

Готовит is the third person singular present tense of the verb готовить (to cook or prepare). It agrees with the subject Мама and tells us that "Mom" is performing the action of preparing in real time.

Why is торт in its current form, and what case is it in?

Торт serves as the direct object of the verb готовит. In Russian, direct objects are put in the accusative case. Since торт is a masculine inanimate noun, the accusative form is identical to the nominative form, which is why it appears as торт.

What case does для друга use, and why is that case required?

The phrase для друга employs the genitive case. The preposition для (for) requires its object to be in the genitive. Thus, друг becomes друга to correctly follow the preposition and indicate that the cake is prepared for a friend.

Why are there no articles like "a" or "the" in this sentence?

Russian does not have articles. The language conveys definiteness or indefiniteness through context and word order rather than by using words equivalent to English articles "a" or "the."

Is the word order in this sentence fixed, or can it be rearranged?

Russian word order is relatively flexible because the grammatical roles of words are indicated by their case endings. While the standard subject-verb-object order (Мама готовит торт) is common and clear, elements such as для друга can be moved around to emphasize different parts of the sentence. However, any reordering must preserve the correct cases to avoid confusion.