Learn Hardcore Russian: Жених купил невесте кольцо с маленьким камнем, хотя денег было мало. - The groom bought the bride a ring with a small stone, although he had little money.

Accusative for the thing bought: купил кольцо (bought a ring)
Dative for the person for whom / to whom it is bought: купил невесте (bought (it) for the bride / bought the bride a ring)

The pattern is: купить (что?) кольцо (кому?) невесте.

So невесте is the dative singular of невеста (bride), marking the indirect object / recipient.

Could we also say для невесты instead of невесте? What’s the difference?

Yes, для невесты is grammatically correct, but there is a nuance:

невесте (dative) – very natural with verbs of giving, bringing, buying; focuses on the recipient:
- Жених купил невесте кольцо. – The groom bought the bride a ring.
для невесты (preposition для
- genitive) – emphasizes the purpose or that something is intended for someone:
- Жених купил кольцо для невесты. – The groom bought a ring for the bride (for her use / for her).

Both are correct, but with verbs like купить, дать, подарить, the dative (кому?) is more idiomatic and a bit more personal.

What case is кольцо in, and why does it look like the dictionary form?

Кольцо is in the accusative singular, used for the direct object of купил.

For neuter inanimate nouns in Russian, the nominative singular and accusative singular forms are identical:

Nominative: кольцо (a ring)
Accusative: купил кольцо (bought a ring)

So it looks like the dictionary form, but functionally it is accusative.

Why is камнем in the instrumental case after с?

The preposition с has several meanings. Here it means “with (having)”, describing a characteristic of the noun:

кольцо с маленьким камнем – a ring with a small stone (on it)

When с means “with” in the sense of “together with / having / accompanied by”, it takes the instrumental case:

с другом (with a friend)
с молоком (with milk)
с маленьким камнем (with a small stone)

So камнем is instrumental singular of камень (stone).

What is the difference between кольцо с камнем and кольцо из камня?

They describe different relationships:

кольцо с камнем – a ring with a stone
A ring that has a stone (set in it). The ring could be made of gold, silver, etc.
кольцо из камня – a ring made of stone
The material of the ring itself is stone (like stone jewelry, carved from stone).

So с камнем = “with a stone (on/in it)”,
из камня = “(made) of stone”.

Why do we say с маленьким камнем and not с маленький камень?

Because in Russian, adjectives agree with the noun in:

case
number
gender

The noun камнем is:

singular
masculine
instrumental case

So the adjective маленький must also be masculine singular instrumental:

Nominative: маленький камень
Instrumental: с маленьким камнем

Hence с маленьким камнем, not с маленький камень.

Why is it денег and not деньги after мало?

After words of quantity like мало, много, немного, сколько, Russian usually uses the genitive case:

мало денег – little money
много людей – many people
немного хлеба – a little bread

Деньги (money) is plural-only:

Nominative plural: деньги – money (as a subject)
e.g. Деньги лежат на столе. – The money is lying on the table.
Genitive plural: денег – used after мало:
мало денег – not much money / little money.

So денег is genitive plural here because of мало.

Why is it было мало, with было (neuter), and not были мало?

This is an impersonal construction: денег было мало literally = there was little money.

In such impersonal sentences about quantity or existence, Russian often uses:

неuter singular past tense было, regardless of the noun’s usual number:
- Денег было мало. – There was little money.
- Людей было много. – There were many people.

The verb быть in these existential/quantitative uses tends to default to neuter singular, not to agree with the logical plural деньги.

Can the word order be changed, for example to Жених купил кольцо с маленьким камнем невесте?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, though not all options sound equally natural.

Most common / neutral orders here:

Жених купил невесте кольцо с маленьким камнем. (original)
Slight emphasis on for the bride early in the sentence.
Жених купил кольцо с маленьким камнем невесте.
Puts what he bought a bit more in focus, then for whom.

Other possible but more “marked” (emphatic) orders:

Невесте жених купил кольцо с маленьким камнем.
Strong emphasis on the bride (maybe contrasting with someone else).
Кольцо с маленьким камнем купил невесте жених.
Emphasis on the ring itself.

Grammar is preserved by keeping:

жених in nominative (subject),
кольцо in accusative (object),
невесте in dative (indirect object), regardless of word order.

Why is the perfective купил used instead of the imperfective покупал?

Купить (perfective) vs покупать (imperfective):

купил – a completed, one-time action, result is important:
He bought (and that’s done, the ring exists now).
покупал – an ongoing / repeated / process in the past, or background activity:
He was buying / would buy / used to buy.

In this sentence, we talk about one specific, completed purchase, so the perfective купил is the natural choice:

Жених купил невесте кольцо… – The groom bought the bride a ring…

Do we need to say у него in the second part, like хотя у него было мало денег? Why is it just хотя денег было мало?

Both are correct, but slightly different:

хотя денег было мало – literally although there was little money.
This is impersonal: it just states the situation “there was little money” without naming who had it. In context, we understand it’s the groom’s money.
хотя у него было мало денег – although he had little money.
This explicitly says he had little money, via у него.

Russian often prefers short, impersonal phrases like денег мало / денег было мало when it’s obvious whose money is meant. Including у него is more explicit but also a bit more wordy.

What exactly does хотя mean here, and is the comma before it necessary?

Хотя means “although / though / even though” and introduces a concessive clause – something that contrasts with the main clause:

Main clause: Жених купил невесте кольцо с маленьким камнем
Concessive clause: хотя денег было мало

So it reads: The groom bought the bride a ring with a small stone, although there was little money.

In Russian, a subordinate clause introduced by хотя is normally separated by a comma:

…, хотя денег было мало.
Or you can start with it: Хотя денег было мало, жених купил…

So yes, the comma is required.

How do we know whether to translate кольцо as “a ring” or “the ring” if Russian has no articles?

Russian has no articles, so кольцо by itself can correspond to:

a ring
the ring

Context decides:

If the object is mentioned for the first time and not uniquely identified, English usually uses “a”:
- Жених купил невесте кольцо… → The groom bought the bride *a ring…*
If it’s something already known in the conversation, English may use “the”:
- Он наконец купил ей кольцо. → He finally bought her *the ring.*

In this isolated sentence, “a ring” is the most natural translation.