Learn Hardcore Russian: Ребёнок просит конфету перед ужином, но мама ждёт до десерта. - The child asks for a candy before dinner, but mom waits until dessert.

просить (imperfective) – to ask (in general, process, repeated/ongoing action)
попросить (perfective) – to ask once, as a complete, single action

In this sentence:

Ребёнок просит конфету… – The child is asking for a candy…
This describes the situation in general or as it’s happening now, without focusing on the result.

If you said:

Ребёнок попросит конфету… – The child will ask for a candy…

Perfective попросит in the present form actually refers to the future (will ask), so it would change the meaning. The sentence as given is about what is happening now (or habitually), so просит is correct.

Why is it конфету and not конфета?

Конфета is a feminine noun (nominative singular).
After the verb просить, the thing being asked for is in the accusative case (direct object).

Feminine nouns ending in -а / -я usually change to -у / -ю in the accusative:

конфета (nom.) → конфету (acc.)
книга (nom.) → книгу (acc.)
машина (nom.) → машину (acc.)

So просит конфету literally means asks (for) a candy. Using конфета would be a case mistake.

Could it be конфетку instead of конфету? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can also say:

Ребёнок просит конфетку…

Конфетку is the accusative of конфетка, which is a diminutive form of конфета.

конфета – neutral, just “a candy”
конфетка – “little candy”, often more affectionate / childlike

Meaning-wise, they’re very close; конфетку just sounds a bit more tender or “cute”, and is often used when talking about or with children. Grammatically, both are correct.

Why is it перед ужином and not перед ужин?

The preposition перед (before/in front of) in Russian requires the instrumental case.

Masculine noun ужин (dinner):

Nominative: ужин
Instrumental: ужином

So with перед you must say:

перед ужином – before dinner / in front of dinner (time)

перед ужин would be ungrammatical because ужин is not in the required case.

What is the difference between перед ужином and до ужина?

Both can be translated as before dinner, but the nuance is slightly different:

перед ужином – literally right before dinner, close in time to when dinner starts. Focus on the moment just before an event.
до ужина – until (before) dinner, any time leading up to dinner. Focus on the entire period up to that point.

In this sentence, перед ужином suggests the child is asking close to dinnertime: just before they are supposed to eat.

If you said:

Ребёнок просит конфету до ужина…

it can sound more like “The child asks for candy at some time before dinner (in general)”, less specifically “right before” it.

Why is it до десерта, and what case is десерта?

The preposition до (until, up to) takes the genitive case.

Masculine noun десерт (dessert):

Nominative: десерт
Genitive: десерта

So:

до десерта – until dessert (time)

This means the mother waits until the dessert course, not giving the candy earlier.
до десерт would be incorrect because десерт needs to be in the genitive after до.

Could we say к десерту instead of до десерта? What’s the difference?

You can say к десерту, but it changes the meaning:

до десерта – until dessert, i.e. she waits and does not give it before that point.
к десерту – by dessert / for dessert, focuses on the time when something should be ready.

For example:

Мама приготовит торт к десерту. – Mom will prepare a cake for dessert (so it’s ready by then).

In your sentence, the idea is not giving the candy earlier, so до десерта (until dessert) is the natural choice.

Do просит and ждёт here mean “is asking / is waiting” or “asks / waits”? How does Russian present tense work?

Russian has one present tense form, which can correspond to both English present simple and present continuous.

So:

Ребёнок просит конфету… can mean:
- The child asks for a candy (in general / regularly).
- The child is asking for a candy (right now).
…мама ждёт до десерта.
- The mother waits until dessert (as her usual rule).
- The mother is waiting until dessert (in this specific situation).

Which one is meant depends on context. The form просит / ждёт itself doesn’t distinguish simple vs continuous.

Is Ребёнок grammatically male or female? Does it mean “boy”?

Ребёнок (child) is grammatically masculine in Russian (ends in a consonant), but semantically it is gender-neutral: it can be a boy or a girl.

Grammatically: adjectives and past-tense verbs will usually use masculine forms with ребёнок.
- маленький ребёнок – little child (masc. adjective)
- Ребёнок устал. – The child got tired. (устал – masc.)
Semantically: it just means “child”, not specifically “boy”.

If you want to be explicit about gender, you would say мальчик (boy) or девочка (girl).

Why is there a comma before но? Is но always used like “but”?

Yes, in this sentence но means but, introducing a contrast:

Ребёнок просит конфету перед ужином, но мама ждёт до десерта.
The second part contrasts with the first: the child wants candy before dinner, but the mother waits until dessert.

In Russian, when но connects two independent clauses (each with its own subject and verb), you put a comma before it.

Но is the standard conjunction for a clear contrast (“but”). It’s very similar in use to English but in such cases.

Could the word order be changed, for example: Мама ждёт до десерта, но ребёнок просит конфету перед ужином?

Yes, that sentence is also correct:

Мама ждёт до десерта, но ребёнок просит конфету перед ужином.

Russian word order is relatively flexible. Both versions are natural:

Ребёнок просит…, но мама ждёт… – starting with the child’s action.
Мама ждёт…, но ребёнок просит… – starting with the mother’s rule/decision.

The main difference is what you want to emphasize first (the child’s request or the mother’s behavior). Grammatically, both are fine.

Why is ё written in Ребёнок? Can it be written as Ребенок?

In standard Russian spelling, the letter ё is often replaced by е in normal texts, especially for native readers:

Ребёнок (with ё) – fully marked spelling
Ребенок (with е) – very common in print

Both are read the same way: [ребёнок] with the yo sound.

For learners, it is helpful to keep ё because:

It shows the correct pronunciation (ё = yo).
It marks the stressed syllable in many words.

So you will see both Ребёнок and Ребенок in real materials; the correct pronunciation is still ребёнок.

Is десерт just “dessert” like in English, and how is it different from ужин?

Yes, десерт is a direct cognate of English dessert – the sweet course at the end of a meal.

ужин – dinner (the evening meal as a whole)
десерт – dessert (the final, usually sweet part of a meal)

So in the sentence:

перед ужином – before the whole dinner starts
до десерта – until they reach the dessert course at the end of the meal

The idea is: the child wants candy before the main meal, but the mother will only give it during/with dessert, not earlier.