Learn Hardcore Russian: Ребёнок любит прятаться за кустом в парке. - The child likes to hide behind a bush in the park.

за
- accusative: movement to a position
  - за куст = (to go) behind the bush
за
- instrumental: location at/behind something (no movement)
  - за кустом = (to be) behind the bush

In the sentence Ребёнок любит прятаться за кустом, the child is hiding behind the bush (location), not going behind it. So за needs the instrumental, giving кустом.

Why is it в парке and not в парк?

The preposition в also changes meaning depending on the case:

в
- accusative: movement into something
  - в парк = (to go) into the park
в
- prepositional: location in something
  - в парке = in the park

In this sentence we are talking about where the child likes to hide (location), not where they are going. So we use в парке (prepositional case), not в парк (accusative).

Why is it прятаться and not прятать?

Прятаться is a reflexive verb (ending -ся) and means to hide oneself.

прятать = to hide something/someone else
- Он прячет игрушку. = He hides the toy.
прятаться = to hide (oneself)
- Он прячется. = He hides / He is hiding.

In Ребёнок любит прятаться за кустом, the child is hiding himself, so the reflexive прятаться is required.

Why is прятаться (imperfective) used, not спрятаться (perfective)?

Любить normally takes an imperfective infinitive when we talk about a habit, preference, or repeated action:

любить читать – to like reading
любить гулять – to like going for walks
любить прятаться – to like hiding

Спрятаться (perfective) would mean to hide (once, to completion) and does not fit a general “likes doing X” meaning. So прятаться (imperfective) is the natural choice here.

Why is it Ребёнок любит прятаться, not something like Ребёнку нравится прятаться?

Both are possible, but the grammar and nuance differ:

Ребёнок любит прятаться.
- Subject: Ребёнок (nominative)
- Verb: любить (to love/like)
- Structure: X любит Y
- Slightly stronger, more direct: “The child likes/loves hiding.”
Ребёнку нравится прятаться.
- Recipient: Ребёнку (dative)
- Verb: нравиться (literally “to be pleasing”)
- Structure: “To X is pleasing Y”
- More neutral: “The child likes to hide / finds hiding pleasant.”

Both are correct, just different typical patterns: subject + любить + infinitive vs. dative + нравится + infinitive.

What is the gender of ребёнок, and how does it behave in sentences?

Grammatically, ребёнок is masculine, regardless of the sex of the child.

With adjectives or past-tense verbs, you use masculine agreement:
- Маленький ребёнок (not маленькая)
- Ребёнок спрятался. (masc. past)
Plural is irregular:
- ребёнок → дети (not ребёнки)

So if you later refer to this ребёнок with pronouns or verbs, you use the masculine forms (он, спрятался, рад, etc.), unless you specifically replace it with a gendered noun like девочка or мальчик.

Can I replace ребёнок with мальчик or девочка? Does it change the meaning?

You can, and it will slightly change what is communicated:

Ребёнок любит прятаться…
- Neutral: simply “a child,” gender not specified or irrelevant.
Мальчик любит прятаться…
- Specifically “a boy.”
Девочка любит прятаться…
- Specifically “a girl.”

Grammatically, the rest of the sentence stays the same. It just becomes more specific about the child’s gender.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” (as in “the child,” “the bush,” “the park”)?

Russian has no articles (a/an/the). Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context or added words:

Ребёнок любит прятаться за кустом в парке.
Depending on context, this can mean:
- “A child likes to hide behind a bush in a/the park.”
- “The child likes to hide behind the bush in the park.”

If you want to be more specific, you would usually add other information:

Этот ребёнок любит прятаться… – This child likes to hide…
За тем кустом – behind that bush
В этом парке – in this park

Can the word order be changed, for example to В парке ребёнок любит прятаться за кустом?

Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible. All of these can be correct:

Ребёнок любит прятаться за кустом в парке.
В парке ребёнок любит прятаться за кустом.
Ребёнок в парке любит прятаться за кустом.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes:

Starting with В парке emphasizes the place:
- “In the park, the child likes to hide behind a bush (as opposed to somewhere else).”
Keeping Ребёнок first sounds like a neutral, typical word order in a textbook-style sentence.

For a learner, the original word order is perfectly natural and clear.

What is the difference between за кустом and something like под кустом?

They describe different spatial relationships:

за кустом – behind the bush (on the far side, out of sight)
под кустом – under the bush (literally beneath it, among the branches at ground level)

Both can be used with прятаться, but the picture is different:

прятаться за кустом – the bush is in front of the child, hiding them.
прятаться под кустом – the child is under/inside the bush.

How is Ребёнок pronounced and written? I sometimes see Ребенок without ё.

The standard form is Ребёнок, pronounced approximately [ree-BYOnak], with stress on -ё-.

In everyday Russian writing, the letter ё is often replaced by е, so you will frequently see Ребенок in print. The pronunciation does not change; people know from context that it should be [ё], not [е].

For learners, it’s safer to write and remember the ё, because it shows where the stress is and helps with correct pronunciation.