Learn Hardcore Russian: Одна утка смело подплывает ближе и берёт хлеб прямо из руки. - One duck bravely swims closer and takes bread directly from the hand.

If you say just Утка смело подплывает..., it can be understood, but it sounds more like “The duck bravely swims up…”, as if there is just that duck, not a contrast with others.

So одна утка suggests:

there are other ducks around, but this one duck is doing the brave thing,
or you want to emphasize “a single duck” acting.

It is feminine (одна, not один) because утка is a feminine noun, and numerals in Russian agree in gender with the noun they modify.

What case is утка in here, and how can I tell?

Утка is in the nominative singular:

It is the subject of the sentence: (одна) утка is the one doing the actions подплывает and берёт.
The nominative singular is the dictionary form for nouns, so it usually appears as the “bare” form without case changes.
Grammatically: утка is a regular feminine noun of the -а type:
- Nominative singular: утка
- Genitive singular: утки
- etc.

If a noun is the “doer” of the action and nothing before it forces another case (like a preposition), it is almost always nominative.

What is смело grammatically, and where can it appear in the sentence?

Смело is an adverb derived from the adjective смелый (“brave”). It means “bravely, boldly”.

In the sentence, it modifies the verb подплывает (“swims up”), describing how the duck swims up.

Normal, neutral position is exactly what you see:

Одна утка смело подплывает ближе...

You can move it a bit for emphasis, and the sentence is still correct:

Смело подплывает ближе одна утка... – stronger focus on bravely.
Одна утка подплывает смело ближе... – less natural, but possible.

Usually, placing the adverb right before the verb it modifies (as in the original) is the most natural choice.

What exactly does подплывает mean, and how is it different from плывёт?

Плывёт comes from плыть and simply means “is swimming / is floating” (in one direction).

Подплывает comes from подплывать (imperfective) / подплыть (perfective):

Prefix под- often means “approach, move closer to”.
So подплывать means “to swim up to, to approach by swimming”.

Nuance:

утка плывёт – “the duck is swimming”, with no idea of approaching something in particular.
утка подплывает – “the duck is swimming closer / up to [someone/something].”

In this sentence the focus is on the duck coming toward the person with the bread, so подплывает is the natural choice.

What tense are подплывает and берёт, and why is the present tense used to describe a picture?

Both подплывает and берёт are:

present tense
3rd person singular
imperfective aspect.

They literally mean:

подплывает – “(she) swims up / is swimming up”
берёт – “(she) takes / is taking”

Russian, like English, often uses the present tense to describe what is happening in a picture, video, or story you are narrating as if you are seeing it right now:

На картинке одна утка смело подплывает ближе и берёт хлеб...

You could use the past tense:

Одна утка смело подплыла ближе и взяла хлеб...

That would sound more like a finished story of what happened earlier. The present tense makes it more vivid and “right in front of your eyes”.

What aspect are подплывает and берёт, and could we use подплывёт or возьмёт instead?

Подплывает and берёт are imperfective verbs:

подплывать (impf.) – ongoing / repeated process of swimming up
подплыть (pf.) – a single completed act of swimming up
брать (impf.) – to be taking, to take (as process/habit)
взять (pf.) – to take once, to have taken

Forms you mention:

подплывёт – future, perfective (“will swim up (once)”)
возьмёт – future, perfective (“will take (once)”)

Perfective verbs in Russian do not have a true present tense; their “present” forms are future.

So:

утка подплывает и берёт – you see the process now (or you’re narrating it as happening now).
утка подплыла и взяла – she swam up and took it (completed actions in the past).
утка подплывёт и возьмёт – she will swim up and will take it (future).

In a “picture description” style, the imperfective present подплывает / берёт is the most natural.

What form is ближе, and what does it modify?

Ближе is the comparative form of the adverb близко (“near, close”).

близко – “(is) near / close”
ближе – “nearer, closer”

In this sentence, ближе is an adverb modifying подплывает:

подплывает ближе – “is swimming closer / is swimming up closer”

So it describes the direction/result of her movement: she is not just swimming; she is becoming closer to the person.

Is there any difference between ближе and поближе here?

Both are correct and close in meaning:

ближе – “closer” (neutral comparative)
поближе – “a bit closer, a little closer”, often slightly softer or more colloquial, sometimes with a nuance of “come closer (to me)”.

In this sentence:

подплывает ближе – “swims closer”
подплывает поближе – “swims a bit closer” / “swims in closer”

The difference is subtle. Поближе can sound a bit more informal or speaker-centered, as if from the point of view of the person calling the duck or holding the bread.

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

Хлеб here is in the accusative singular, functioning as the direct object of берёт:

берёт что? – хлеб (accusative: “takes what? bread”)

For masculine inanimate nouns like хлеб, the nominative and accusative forms are identical:

Nominative singular: хлеб
Accusative singular: хлеб

That’s why it looks the same as the dictionary form, even though grammatically it’s in the accusative.

In прямо из руки, what does прямо add? Can we leave it out?

Прямо is an adverb meaning “straight, directly, right”.

Here it intensifies из руки:

берёт хлеб из руки – “takes bread from (the) hand”
берёт хлеб прямо из руки – “takes bread right from (the) hand”, “directly from the hand”

So прямо emphasizes that:

there is no distance or intermediate step,
the duck is taking it exactly from the hand itself.

You can leave it out; the sentence stays grammatical. You just lose a bit of vividness/intensity.

Why is it из руки and not от руки or с руки? What case is руки?

Руки here is genitive singular of рука:

Nominative singular: рука (“hand”)
Genitive singular: руки

It’s genitive because the preposition из (“from, out of”) always requires the genitive.

Prepositions and nuance:

из руки – literally “out of the hand / from the hand (as a container or source)”
- common in contexts like “take something from someone’s hand”, emphasizing that the object is in the hand.
с руки – “off the hand”, from the surface of the hand
- more typical with taking something off the surface or removing things: снять кольцо с руки (“take a ring off the hand”).
от руки – “from the hand” in a more abstract or distant sense
- often means “from someone (as an agent or origin)”: письмо от руки (“a handwritten letter”, literally “from the hand”).

In the context of feeding a duck, из руки is very natural because the bread is in your hand and the duck is taking it out of your hand.

Can the word order in this sentence be changed, and would that change the meaning?

Russian word order is relatively flexible, so several rearrangements are possible, though nuance and emphasis change.

The original is neutral and clear:

Одна утка смело подплывает ближе и берёт хлеб прямо из руки.

Other possible orders:

Смело подплывает ближе одна утка и берёт хлеб прямо из руки.
- Extra focus on смело (“bravely it swims closer, one duck…”).
Одна утка подплывает ближе и смело берёт хлеб прямо из руки.
- Slightly more emphasis on the bravery of taking the bread.

What you usually don’t want to break:

Keep related words close:
- смело подплывает, берёт хлеб, прямо из руки.
Do not separate prepositions from their nouns.

So yes, you can move parts around for emphasis, but the original order is the most natural, neutral version.