Learn Hardcore Russian: Мама намазывает варенье на хлеб.

Варенье is the direct object of the verb намазывает (is spreading).
In Russian, the thing directly affected by the action of the verb is usually in the accusative case.

Кто? Что? (who? what?) – Мама намазывает что? варенье.
The answer to что? takes the accusative: варенье → варенье (neuter inanimate, same form in nominative and accusative).

Other cases (like instrumental вареньем) would change the meaning or sound ungrammatical here.

Why is it на хлеб and not на хлебе?

The preposition на can take either accusative or prepositional, depending on meaning:

На + accusative = direction / onto / movement onto a surface
→ на хлеб = onto the bread (she is putting jam on it)
На + prepositional = location / on top of (no movement)
→ на хлебе = on the bread (describing where something is, not the action of putting it there)

In this sentence, the focus is on the action of putting jam onto the bread, so we use на хлеб (accusative).

Could we say Мама намазывает хлеб вареньем instead? If yes, what is the difference?

Yes, Мама намазывает хлеб вареньем is also correct, but the structure is a bit different:

Мама намазывает варенье на хлеб.
Literally: Mom spreads jam onto bread.
Варенье is the direct object, хлеб is the surface.
Мама намазывает хлеб вареньем.
Literally: Mom spreads the bread with jam.
Хлеб is the direct object, вареньем is in the instrumental case, showing the material used.

Both mean almost the same thing, but in the first, the jam is more central; in the second, the bread is more central.

Why is the verb намазывает used and not something simpler like мажет?

Russian has both:

мазать (мажет) – to smear, to spread (more general, can be messy, can be for paint, ointment, etc.)
намазывать (намазывает) – to spread onto something, with a clearer sense of covering a surface (often used with food: butter, jam, pâté).

In everyday speech about putting something like jam, butter, or cream cheese on bread, намазывать is the standard, natural verb.
Мазать could be used, but it sounds a bit rougher or more generic here (like just smearing stuff).

Is намазывает present simple or present continuous? How would you translate its tense into English?

Russian does not formally distinguish between simple and continuous present.
Намазывает can mean:

Mom spreads jam on bread (regularly, as a habit).
Mom is spreading jam on bread (right now).

Context decides which English tense fits better. Grammatically, it’s just present tense, imperfective aspect.

What is the infinitive of намазывает, and what is the perfective partner?

The imperfective infinitive is намазывать – to (be) spread(ing) / to apply (repeatedly or as a process).
The common perfective partner is намазать – to spread / to apply (as a single, completed action).

Examples:

Мама намазывает варенье на хлеб. – Mom is (in the process of) spreading jam on bread.
Мама намазала варенье на хлеб. – Mom has spread / spread the jam on the bread (completed action).

Why is the subject мама and not мать? What is the difference?

Both mean mother, but they differ in style and usage:

Мама – informal, warm, what children normally say; used all the time in family and everyday language.
Мать – more formal, neutral, or sometimes even cold/harsh, depending on context. Used in official documents, literature, or when emotionally distant/critical: мать ребёнка (the child’s mother).

In this homey, everyday action (spreading jam on bread), мама is the natural choice.

Why is there no word for the or a before хлеб or варенье? How do we know if it’s the bread or some bread?

Russian has no articles (no direct equivalents of a/an/the).
Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context or can sometimes be made clearer by extra words (like этот хлеб – this bread).

So Мама намазывает варенье на хлеб can be translated depending on context as:

Mom is spreading jam on (the) bread.
Mom is spreading jam on some bread.
Mom is spreading jam on a piece of bread.

The Russian sentence itself doesn’t force one specific choice.

Can we leave out мама or replace it with она?

Yes:

Она намазывает варенье на хлеб. – She is spreading jam on bread.

Leaving the subject out completely is generally not done in Russian (unlike in Spanish or Italian).
You usually must say either мама or она (or some other explicit subject). Russian is not a pro‑drop language in the same way; the subject is normally required.

Can we change the word order, like Мама на хлеб намазывает варенье or Варенье мама намазывает на хлеб? Does the meaning change?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and all these are grammatically possible:

Мама намазывает варенье на хлеб. – neutral, standard order.
Мама на хлеб намазывает варенье. – slight emphasis on на хлеб (on the bread, not somewhere else).
Варенье мама намазывает на хлеб. – emphasis on варенье (it’s jam, not something else).

The basic meaning (Mom is spreading jam on bread) stays the same; the different orders highlight different parts of the sentence for contrast or focus.

What is the case and gender of мама, and how does it affect the verb намазывает?

Мама here is in the nominative case (it’s the subject).
The grammatical gender of мама is feminine.

The verb намазывает is the 3rd person singular present form. In the present tense, its form is the same for masculine, feminine, and neuter subjects:

Он намазывает…
Она намазывает…
Оно намазывает…

So the gender doesn’t change the verb ending here, but it tells us that мама is female.

How do you pronounce намазывает and варенье correctly?

Approximate pronunciation with stressed syllables in caps:

намА́зывает: na-MA-zuh-vayt
Stress on the second syllable: намАзывать → намА́зывает.
варЕ́нье: va-RYE-nye
Stress on the second syllable: варЕнье.

A rough syllable breakdown:

на-ма-зы-ва-ет
ва-ре-нье (the нье is one soft syllable, the н is palatalized).

What exactly is варенье? Is it the same as English jam, jelly, or preserves?

Варенье is a general word for fruit cooked with sugar. It is most often translated as jam or preserves, but it can be:

from whole or sliced fruit,
fairly liquid or thicker,
often with pieces of fruit still clearly visible.

Other Russian words:

джем – closer to modern store‑bought jam, smoother.
повидло – a thick fruit paste/spread, more homogeneous.

In this context, варенье is best understood as jam.