Learn Hardcore Russian: Сейчас я стараюсь поесть что‑нибудь полезное на полдник, чтобы не делать вредный перекус вечером. - Now I try to eat something healthy for my afternoon snack so as not to have an unhealthy snack in the evening.

есть – imperfective, neutral “to eat” in general.
- Я хочу есть. – I want to eat (I’m hungry / I want to be eating).
поесть – perfective, but with a “for a while / have a bit” nuance, often without strong focus on the result.
- Я хочу поесть. – I want to have something to eat / eat a bit.
съесть – perfective with a clear result / completion: to eat something up, finish it.
- Я хочу съесть яблоко. – I want to eat (up) an apple.

In я стараюсь поесть что‑нибудь полезное, поесть fits because the idea is “have something to eat” (a reasonable portion at snack time), not “I’m eating (in general)” (есть) and not “to completely finish some specific food” (съесть).

Why is it я стараюсь поесть, not я пытаюсь поесть? What’s the difference between стараться and пытаться?

Both mean “to try,” but their nuances differ:

стараться – to make an effort, to strive:
- Emphasizes good will, diligence, intention.
- Often used with positive habits / goals: стараюсь правильно питаться – I’m trying (making an effort) to eat properly.
пытаться – to attempt, sometimes with a sense that it may fail:
- Emphasizes the attempt itself, sometimes with struggle or difficulty.
- Я пытаюсь поесть в тишине – I’m trying to eat in peace (but it’s hard / keeps getting interrupted).

In the sentence, the speaker is talking about a conscious healthy habit, so стараюсь поесть is more natural: I’m making an effort to eat something healthy.

What’s the difference between что‑нибудь полезное and что‑то полезное? Could I say что‑то полезное here?

Both are grammatically correct and both mean “something healthy,” but:

что‑нибудь полезное:
- Often more indefinite / any: anything healthy, I don’t care exactly what.
- Feels a bit more neutral and is very common in speech in such contexts.
что‑то полезное:
- Often suggests some specific but unknown/unspecified thing: some (kind of) healthy thing.
- Can sound a bit more concrete or “there is something in mind,” though the difference is subtle.

In this sentence, the idea is: I’m trying to eat *anything healthy for my afternoon snack, so *что‑нибудь полезное is very natural. Что‑то полезное would also be fine, just very slightly more “there’s some specific healthy thing.”

Why is it на полдник and not в полдник? What does полдник mean exactly?

Полдник has two related meanings:

A time of day: around mid‑afternoon (literally “mid‑day”, but in practice ~3–4 pm).
A meal/snack at that time: an afternoon snack, especially in schools and kindergartens.

The prepositions:

на полдник – for afternoon snack / at snack time (as a meal/occasion).
- Я приготовил бутерброд на полдник. – I made a sandwich for (my) afternoon snack.
в полдник – literally “at noon / at midday” as a time point (but in modern speech this is less common; people usually say в полдень for “at noon”).

Here, на полдник refers to the meal/occasion: for my afternoon snack, not just the abstract time. That’s why на is used.

Why is it на полдник with на, but вечером without a preposition?

Two different patterns are at work:

на полдник – на + accusative for certain events/meals/occasions:
- на завтрак – for breakfast
- на обед – for lunch
- на ужин – for dinner
- на полдник – for afternoon snack
Here полдник is seen as a meal/occasion.
вечером – the word вечер in the instrumental case used adverbially:
- утром – in the morning
- днём – in the daytime
- вечером – in the evening
- ночью – at night

These forms behave like adverbs. So вечером means “in the evening” with no preposition needed.

Why is it чтобы не делать вредный перекус, not чтобы не перекусывать or чтобы не есть вредный перекус?

Several options are possible, but they differ in nuance and naturalness:

делать вредный перекус – literally “to make a harmful/unhealthy snack,” but idiomatically “to have an unhealthy snack.”
- делать перекус is a common, natural collocation: to have a snack.
перекусывать – imperfective verb meaning “to snack, to be snacking (from time to time).”
- чтобы не перекусывать вечером would mean “so as not to snack in the evenings (in general).”
- It focuses on the process/habit of snacking, without explicitly saying it’s harmful.
есть вредный перекус is not wrong grammatically, but есть перекус is less idiomatic than делать перекус or перекусить.
- Russians more often say сделать перекус or use the verb перекусить (perfective, “grab a bite”).

So не делать вредный перекус nicely expresses “not to have an unhealthy snack,” with focus on avoiding this single evening snack (or recurring event), and делать перекус sounds natural.

Why is it вредный перекус? Does вредный mean “harmful” or just “unhealthy/junk”?

Вредный literally means harmful, but in everyday speech it often means:

unhealthy (food, lifestyle),
bad for you,
or “junk” (when talking about food).

Common collocations:

вредная еда – junk food, unhealthy food
вредные привычки – bad habits (e.g., smoking, drinking)
вредный перекус – an unhealthy snack (chips, candy, etc.)

So вредный перекус is best understood as “an unhealthy (junk) snack,” not as something dramatically dangerous, just not good for your health.

Why is it чтобы не делать, with не делать (imperfective), and not чтобы не сделать?

With чтобы + infinitive, aspect changes the nuance:

чтобы не делать
- accusative:
- Imperfective, focuses on the process/habit / the action as such.
- Here: чтобы не делать вредный перекус вечером = so that I won’t (be) having an unhealthy snack in the evening.
чтобы не сделать:
- Perfective, focuses on one complete act/result: so as not to end up doing it (once).
- Would sound like avoiding one single completed action, e.g. чтобы не сделать ошибку – so as not to make a mistake.

Since the speaker is talking about their typical evening snacking habit, the imperfective (не делать) is more natural. It’s about not engaging in that activity, not about one isolated event.

Is the word order Сейчас я стараюсь поесть… important? Could I say Я сейчас стараюсь поесть… instead?

Both are correct and very natural:

Сейчас я стараюсь поесть…
Я сейчас стараюсь поесть…

The difference is only in slight emphasis:

Starting with Сейчас puts a tiny bit more focus on “right now / these days”:
- Right now, I’m trying to…
Starting with Я is more neutral:
- I am now trying to…

In everyday speech, they’re practically interchangeable here. Russian word order is quite flexible; information structure and emphasis matter more than strict rules.

Why is перекус used as a noun instead of the verb перекусить? Could the sentence use перекусить instead?

Both noun and verb are possible, but they give different structures:

In the original:
- делать вредный перекус – noun phrase: “(to) do/make/have an unhealthy snack.”
With the verb:
- чтобы вечером не перекусить чем‑нибудь вредным – “so as not to snack on something unhealthy in the evening.”

This alternative is fully natural and idiomatic. The choice is stylistic:

делать перекус
- вредный перекус:
- Stays closer to the pattern “do a (specific) snack,” uses the adjective вредный directly with перекус.
перекусить чем‑нибудь вредным:
- Emphasizes the act of snacking with the verb; the “harmful” part then usually attaches to the food: чем‑нибудь вредным (“with something unhealthy”).

The original sentence just happens to use the noun + делать pattern, which is very common in conversational Russian.