Learn Hardcore Russian: Мама готовит картофель.

Мама is a noun in the feminine gender, singular, and nominative case (the subject).
Готовит is a verb in the 3rd person singular, present tense, imperfective aspect.
Картофель is a noun in the masculine gender, singular, and accusative case (the direct object).

Why is мама in the form “мама” and not “маму”?

Because мама is the subject of the sentence and thus takes the nominative case. “Маму” would be the accusative case (used for a direct object), but here мама is doing the cooking, not being cooked.

What case is картофель in, and how can you tell?

Картофель is in the accusative case, marking the direct object of the verb готовит. For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative form is identical to the nominative form, so картофель remains unchanged.

What is the aspect of the verb готовит, and what’s its perfective counterpart?

Готовит is imperfective, indicating a process or habitual action (“is cooking” / “cooks”). The perfective counterpart is приготовит, which focuses on the completion of the action (“will cook [to completion]”).

How do you form готовит from the infinitive, and what conjugation is it?

The infinitive is готовить. Remove -ить to get the stem готов-, then add the 3rd person singular ending -ит. It belongs to the second conjugation pattern (verbs ending in -ить).

Where is the stress in картофель, and how is it pronounced?

The stress falls on the last syllable: кар-то-ФЕль. Phonetic approximation: [kə-tə-FJEL’].

Can you change the word order, for example to Картофель готовит мама?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible because cases show each word’s function. Картофель готовит мама still means “Mom is cooking potatoes,” but emphasizes мама as the doer (or contrasts who is cooking).

Is картофель countable or uncountable in Russian?

In everyday Russian, картофель often behaves as a mass (uncountable) noun meaning “potatoes” generally. If you need to count individual potatoes, you’d say одна картофелина, две картофелины, etc.

How would you say “Mom will cook potatoes” in Russian?

If you want the simple future perfective (action completed), use приготовит: Мама приготовит картофель.
If you want the future imperfective (ongoing/focused on the process), say Мама будет готовить картофель.

What is the past tense of готовит in this sentence?

Use the past tense of the imperfective verb with a feminine ending: Мама готовила картофель (“Mom was cooking / used to cook potatoes”).