Learn Hardcore Russian: После ужина мама вытирает стол тряпкой. - After dinner mom wipes the table with a rag.

после always takes genitive (after something).
More generally, genitive is used for:
- After many prepositions (после, у, без, для, до, из, с/со, около, напротив…).
- Possession: книга мамы (mom’s book).
- Absence/quantity: нет ужина (there is no dinner).

So in После ужина you’re seeing the very common pattern: предлог + родительный падеж (preposition + genitive case).

Why is the verb вытирает used here and not a different form like вытрет or вытерла?

Вытирает is:

The present tense,
3rd person singular,
imperfective aspect of the verb вытирать (to wipe).

It’s used because the sentence describes a regular, habitual action:

После ужина мама вытирает стол тряпкой.
= After dinner, Mom wipes the table (as something she usually does).

Other forms would change the meaning:

Мама вытерла стол. – Mom wiped the table. (past, completed, perfective)
Мама вытрет стол. – Mom will wipe the table. (future, one-time, perfective)

For habits and repeated actions, Russian generally uses the imperfective present, which is exactly what вытирает is.

Why does Russian use present tense (вытирает) if in English we say “wipes” (simple present) or “is wiping” (present continuous)?

Russian has only one present tense form; it doesn’t grammatically distinguish between:

wipes (habitual/simple present) and
is wiping (right now / progressive).

Context tells you whether it’s habitual or happening now.

После ужина мама вытирает стол тряпкой.

Can naturally be translated as:
- After dinner, Mom wipes the table with a cloth. (habit/routine)
- In the right context, it could also describe what’s happening right now after this dinner, but the default reading here is a routine.

So Russian вытирает covers both English wipes and is wiping, depending on context.

What is the infinitive of вытирает, and how is this verb conjugated?

The infinitive is вытирать (to wipe).

Basic present-tense conjugation (imperfective):

я вытираю – I wipe / I am wiping
ты вытираешь – you (sg., informal) wipe
он / она / оно вытирает – he / she / it wipes
мы вытираем – we wipe
вы вытираете – you (pl. or formal) wipe
они вытирают – they wipe

In the sentence, вытирает is 3rd person singular (он/она/оно), matching мама.

Why is it стол and not something like стола? What case is стол here?

Стол is in the accusative case, used for the direct object of the verb – the thing that is being wiped.

For masculine inanimate nouns like стол, the accusative singular form is identical to the nominative:

Nominative: стол (table)
Accusative: стол (table – as a direct object)

So even though the form looks the same, grammatically it’s accusative:
вытирать (что?) стол – to wipe (what?) the table.

You would see a difference with masculine animate nouns:

Nominative: брат (brother)
Accusative: брата (I see my brother – я вижу брата).

Why is тряпкой in that form, and what case is it?

Тряпкой is in the instrumental case.

Instrumental is often used to show:

By what means or with what tool the action is done.

Here, тряпкой answers the question:

чем? – with what?
Мама вытирает стол (чем?) тряпкой. – Mom wipes the table with a cloth.

Declension of тряпка (cloth, rag):

Nominative: тряпка (subject)
Instrumental: тряпкой (as an instrument/means)

So the form тряпкой is required because it’s the tool used to perform the action.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Мама после ужина вытирает стол тряпкой or Мама вытирает тряпкой стол после ужина?

Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible, and both of those are possible. They are all grammatically correct, but the emphasis slightly shifts.

После ужина мама вытирает стол тряпкой.
- Neutral, common order.
- Sets the time first: After dinner, Mom wipes the table with a cloth.
Мама после ужина вытирает стол тряпкой.
- Slight emphasis on мама first: we’re talking about what Mom does (after dinner).
Мама вытирает тряпкой стол после ужина.
- Emphasizes the instrument тряпкой earlier, and time после ужина later.
- Still natural; just a different information flow.

The key grammatical relations are shown mostly by endings and prepositions, not strict word position. Word order is then used mainly to manage focus and style.

Why is there no word for “the” before стол? How do we know it’s “the table” and not “a table”?

Russian has no articles (no direct equivalents of a/an or the). Whether you translate стол as a table or the table depends on context.

In this sentence:

После ужина мама вытирает стол тряпкой.

We usually assume there is a specific, known table (e.g., the dining table where dinner was just eaten), so English naturally uses the table.

But grammatically, Russian doesn’t mark this difference. The same стол could be translated as either a table or the table, depending on the situation and what sounds natural in English.

Could we leave out тряпкой and just say После ужина мама вытирает стол?

Yes, absolutely.

После ужина мама вытирает стол. is a perfectly natural sentence meaning:

After dinner, Mom wipes the table.

Adding тряпкой simply specifies with what she wipes the table (with a cloth).

So:

With тряпкой – a bit more detailed, focuses on the instrument.
Without тряпкой – more general; the tool is either obvious or unimportant.

Why does the verb form вытирает not change to show that мама is feminine?

In the present tense, Russian verbs do not change for gender, only for person and number.

So:

он вытирает – he wipes
она вытирает – she wipes
оно вытирает – it wipes

All use the same form: вытирает.

Gender shows up clearly in the past tense:

Мама вытирала стол. – Mom (she) wiped the table. (-ла = feminine)
Папа вытирал стол. – Dad (he) wiped the table. (-л = masculine)

In the present, it’s context (the noun мама) that tells you the subject is feminine, not the verb ending.

What is the difference between вытирать стол and мыть стол?

Both can involve cleaning, but they have different basic meanings:

вытирать стол – to wipe the table
- Typically with a cloth, sponge, towel.
- Focus on wiping off crumbs, spills, dust.
мыть стол – to wash the table
- Usually involves water, soap, more thorough washing.
- More like to wash/clean with water.

In daily speech, there can be overlap (someone might say пойду помою стол even if they’re just wiping it), but strictly:

мыть is about washing.
вытирать is about wiping/drying/removing with a cloth.

Why is it После ужина, not something like За ужином? Do после and за both relate to meals?

Yes, both can appear with meal words, but they mean different things:

После ужина – after dinner
- Time after the meal has finished.
За ужином – during dinner / at dinner
- Time while the meal is happening.

Examples:

После ужина мама вытирает стол.
After dinner, Mom wipes the table.
За ужином мы много разговариваем.
We talk a lot during dinner.

So после = after, за (with meal names) generally = during / at (the meal).

Can I use a different word order at the beginning, like Мама вытирает стол тряпкой после ужина? Is that still okay?

Yes, that’s also correct:

Мама вытирает стол тряпкой после ужина.

This order is very natural in spoken Russian and often feels slightly more “neutral” in everyday speech:

Subject (мама)
Verb (вытирает)
Direct object (стол)
Instrument (тряпкой)
Time (после ужина)

Meaning stays the same: Mom wipes the table with a cloth after dinner. The difference is just in information flow and rhythm, not in grammar.