Learn Hardcore Russian: После ссоры мы быстро миримся.

Because the nominative plural is also ссоры, learners often confuse it with plural; here, context (one quarrel) and the preposition после tell you it is genitive singular.

Is ссоры singular or plural here?

Grammatically, ссоры here is singular, genitive singular of ссо́ра.

после ссоры = after a quarrel / after the quarrel (one event)
Plural “after quarrels” would be после ссо́р (genitive plural, without ы).

So:

после ссоры – after a quarrel
после ссор – after quarrels (in general / several quarrels)

Why is ссора spelled with a double сс?

The word ссо́ра has сс for historical/derivational reasons and follows a common Russian spelling pattern.

Relevant point for you as a learner:

There are several common everyday words with сс:
ссо́ра (quarrel), ссо́риться (to quarrel), рассказ, Россия, etc.
This is not because of lengthening in pronunciation – in normal speech you just have one [s]-sound, not a “long s.”
You simply need to memorize the spelling ссора / ссориться with double сс.

What is the infinitive of миримся, and what tense/aspect is this form?

The infinitive is мири́ться.

Миримся is:

Present tense
1st person plural (“we”)
Imperfective aspect
Reflexive (because of -ся)

Full present-tense conjugation of мири́ться (to make peace, to reconcile):

я мирю́сь – I make peace / I’m making peace
ты мири́шься – you (sg.) make peace
он/она/оно мири́тся – he/she/it makes peace
мы мири́мся – we make peace
вы мири́тесь – you (pl./formal) make peace
они миря́тся – they make peace

Why does the verb have -ся at the end (миримся)? What does that mean?

The -ся (or -сь) ending marks a reflexive verb.

For мири́ться, the reflexive ending has a reciprocal meaning: people are doing something to each other.

мири́ть кого-то – to reconcile someone (to make two other people be friends again)
мири́ться (друг с дру́гом) – to make peace with each other

In После ссоры мы быстро миримся, мы is plural, so the idea is:

“After a quarrel, we quickly make peace with each other.”

You don’t need to add друг с другом (“with each other”) – the reflexive plural already implies that.

Does мириться always need с кем? (“with whom?”), and why is it missing here?

The verb мириться usually does take с кем? (instrumental case):

мириться с другом – to make peace with a friend
мириться с мужем / женой – to make peace with one’s husband / wife

But when the subject is plural and we clearly mean “with each other,” Russian can drop the explicit “with whom”:

Мы помирились. – We made up. (with each other)
После ссоры мы быстро миримся. – After a quarrel, we quickly make up. (with each other)

If you really want to spell it out, you could say:

После ссоры мы быстро миримся друг с другом.
But in everyday speech this extra phrase is usually unnecessary.

What is the difference between мириться and помириться?

They are the imperfective and perfective pair:

мириться – imperfective (process, repeated/habitual action, no focus on result)
помириться – perfective (one completed act, result reached)

Compare:

После ссоры мы быстро миримся.
- “After a quarrel, we (tend to) make up quickly.”
- Describes a usual pattern/habit.
После ссоры мы быстро помиримся.
- “After the quarrel, we will quickly make up.”
- Refers to one specific future event and its result.
После ссоры мы быстро помирились.
- “After the quarrel, we quickly made up.”
- One completed event in the past.

Why is the present tense used here if we are talking about what usually happens?

In Russian, the present tense of an imperfective verb is regularly used for repeated / habitual actions, just like the English present simple:

По вечерам мы смотрим фильмы. – In the evenings we watch movies.
После ссоры мы быстро миримся. – After a quarrel, we quickly make up.

So this present tense form миримся naturally means:

“we (generally / always) make up” rather than “we are making up right now.”

What exactly does быстро mean here, and how is it different from скоро?

Бы́стро means “quickly, fast” – it describes the speed of the action.

мы быстро миримся – we make up quickly (the reconciliation doesn’t take long)

Ско́ро means “soon” – it refers to when something happens, not how fast it happens:

Мы скоро помиримся. – We’ll make up soon.

So in this sentence, быстро is correct because the idea is that the reconciliation itself is fast, not that it happens “soon” in time.

Is the subject pronoun мы necessary, or could it be left out?

Russian often omits subject pronouns, because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

So you could say:

После ссоры быстро миримся.

Grammatically it’s fine, and in some contexts (like a diary entry or informal speech) it may sound natural.

However:

Including мы makes it clearer and more neutral, and is the most natural version if the sentence stands alone.
Leaving out мы can sound a bit shortened or stylistically marked, depending on context.

For learners, it’s usually safer and more natural to keep мы here.

Can the word order be different, for example После ссоры мы миримся быстро or Мы быстро миримся после ссоры?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but the neutral and most natural order here is:

После ссоры мы быстро миримся.

Other options:

После ссоры мы миримся быстро.
– Also correct. Slightly more emphasis on быстро at the end.
Мы быстро миримся после ссоры.
– Also possible. Emphasis shifts more to мы and what happens after a quarrel as a situation.
Быстро мы миримся после ссоры.
– Grammatically fine, but with stronger emphasis on быстро (e.g., contrasting with some other couple that doesn’t make up quickly).

For a textbook-style, neutral sentence, После ссоры мы быстро миримся is the best choice.

Where are the stresses in the words of this sentence, and are there any tricky ones?

Stresses:

По́сле – stress on По́
ссо́ры – stress on со́
мы – one syllable
бы́стро – stress on бы́
мири́мся – stress on ри́

Trickiest ones for learners:

бы́стро, not бистрó
мири́мся, with the stress in the middle, not on the first syllable.