Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.

Before sleep I want to read a book at home for a while.

Breakdown of Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.

• я: I
• книга: the book
• дома: at home
• перед: before
• хотеть: to want
• немного: a little
• сон: the sleep
• почитать: to read

Questions & Answers about Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.

Why is it перед сном and not something like перед спать?

In Russian, the preposition перед (“before / in front of”) must be followed by a noun in the instrumental case, not by a verb.

• сон = sleep (as a noun)
• спать = to sleep (verb / infinitive)

So you can say:

• перед сном = literally “before (the) sleep” → idiomatically “before (I) go to sleep / before bedtime”

But you cannot say перед спать; that is ungrammatical.

If you really want to use a verb, you need a different structure, for example:

• перед тем, как лечь спать – before going to bed
• перед тем, как я буду спать – before I sleep (more formal / bookish)

What case is сном, and what are the forms of сон?

Сном is the instrumental singular of сон (“sleep”).

Declension of сон (singular):

• Nominative (who? what?): сон – sleep
• Genitive (of what?): сна
• Dative (to what?): сну
• Accusative (what?): сон
• Instrumental (with what?): сном
• Prepositional (about what?): (о) сне

The preposition перед always takes the instrumental case, so:

• перед сном
• перед работой – before work
• перед обедом – before lunch

Does перед сном really mean “before going to bed,” or just “before sleep” in a very literal way?

In everyday Russian, перед сном is a fixed, very natural expression meaning:

• “before going to bed”
• “before I go to sleep”
• “before bedtime”

It’s not interpreted in a stiff, abstract way like “prior to the process of sleep”; it’s a normal, colloquial way to talk about what you do before bed:

• Перед сном я всегда чищу зубы. – I always brush my teeth before bed.
• Дети часто смотрят мультики перед сном. – Children often watch cartoons before bed.

Why is it почитать and not just читать? What’s the difference?

Both читать and почитать are correct, but they have different aspects and nuances.

• читать – imperfective aspect: “to read” (process, no focus on completion or duration)
• почитать – perfective aspect: “to read for a while / for some time,” often with the idea of a limited, completed period of reading

In this sentence:

• я хочу немного почитать = “I want to read a bit / for a while”

  The combination немного + почитать strongly suggests:

• a short, limited activity
• not necessarily finishing the whole book, just reading some of it

If you say:

• Перед сном я хочу немного читать книгу дома.

it sounds off in Russian. With немного, you normally choose a perfective verb like почитать to fit the “for a little while” meaning.

What nuance does немного add here? Could I use немножко or чуть-чуть instead?

Немного literally means “a little / not much” and in this context it modifies the verb, not the noun:

• немного почитать ≈ “to read a little / to read for a bit”

It tells us:

• the action will not be long or extensive
• it’s a modest amount of reading

You can often replace it with:

• немножко почитать – slightly more informal/colloquial
• чуть-чуть почитать – “just a tiny bit,” emphasizes very small amount

All three are possible here; the difference is mostly tone:

• немного почитать – neutral
• немножко почитать – friendly, casual
• чуть-чуть почитать – “just a tiny bit,” often with a soft or pleading nuance

Why do we say немного почитать книгу, not немного книгу почитать? Is the word order fixed?

Russian word order is flexible, but some orders sound more natural and neutral than others.

Most neutral patterns here are:

• немного почитать книгу
• почитать книгу немного

Both are possible, but:

• немного почитать книгу feels very natural, especially in a sentence like yours.
• немного книгу почитать is also grammatically possible, but it slightly emphasizes книгу, and may sound a bit more colloquial or stylized.

In beginner/intermediate speech, it’s safest and most natural to use:

• Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.

Do I have to include книгу? Could I just say немного почитать дома?

You don’t have to say книгу. Both versions are fine, but the nuance changes:

1. With книгу:

   • Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.
   • Emphasizes reading a book (as opposed to messages, news, etc.).
   • Usually implies a specific book in context (“that book I’m reading”).

2. Without книгу:

   • Перед сном я хочу немного почитать дома.
   • More general: “I want to do some reading at home before bed.”
   • The object is understood from context (book, articles, etc.), and often it doesn’t matter what exactly.

Both are natural. If you’re just talking about the activity of reading and the object isn’t important, dropping книгу is very common.

Why is it книгу and not книга? What case is that?

Книгу is the accusative singular of книга (“book”). It’s used because книга is the direct object of the verb почитать.

Singular forms of книга:

• Nominative: книга – a book (subject)
• Genitive: книги
• Dative: книге
• Accusative: книгу – a book (direct object)
• Instrumental: книгой
• Prepositional: (о) книге

So:

• Я читаю книгу. – I am reading a book.
• Я вижу книгу. – I see a book.
• Хочу почитать книгу. – I want to read a book.

What exactly is дома here? Why do we say дома and not в доме?

In this sentence, дома is an adverb of place meaning “at home.”

• дома (stressed дОма) = at home
• в доме = in the house / inside the building (more literal)

Your sentence:

• …почитать книгу дома. – “…to read a book at home.”

If you said:

• …почитать книгу в доме.

it would mean “in the house” as a physical building (e.g., not outside, not in the yard). That’s possible, but дома is what you normally want for the everyday “at home.”

What’s the difference in pronunciation and meaning between дОма and домА?

There are two different words in Russian:

1. дОма (stress on the first syllable):

   • Means “at home”
   • Functions like an adverb
   • Example: Я сегодня дома. – I’m at home today.

2. домА (stress on the second syllable):

   • Plural of дом (“house”) in nominative/accusative
   • Means “houses”
   • Example: В этом районе красивые дома́. – There are beautiful houses in this neighborhood.

In your sentence it is дОма – “at home.”

Can I change the word order? For example: Я хочу дома немного почитать книгу перед сном. Is that okay?

Yes, Russian allows flexible word order. Several variants are grammatically correct, though they differ a bit in emphasis. All of these are possible:

• Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома. (original; very natural)
• Перед сном я хочу дома немного почитать книгу.
• Я хочу немного почитать книгу дома перед сном.
• Я хочу дома перед сном немного почитать книгу.

Neutral or near‑neutral orders usually put time and place near the start or end:

• Time: перед сном
• Place: дома

Your original sentence is quite natural and neutral. Other variants add slight emphasis (for example, putting дома earlier emphasizes where more), but they’re all understandable.

Why is there no comma after Перед сном? In English, we often write “Before bed, I want to…”

In Russian, a comma is not required here because:

• Перед сном is just a prepositional phrase (an adverbial modifier of time).
• It’s not an entire clause with its own verb.

Russian punctuation is more conservative about commas than English. Phrases like:

• Вечером я читаю. – In the evening I read.
• После работы я отдыхаю. – After work I relax.
• Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома. – Before bed I want to read a bit at home.

are normally written without a comma.

Could I say Перед тем, как спать, я хочу немного почитать книгу дома instead of Перед сном?

You can say something like перед тем, как спать, but it’s not the most natural phrasing. More idiomatic options are:

• Перед тем, как лечь спать, я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.
• Перед тем, как я лягу спать, я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.

However, in everyday speech, перед сном is:

• shorter
• more natural
• completely standard

So:

• Перед сном я хочу немного почитать книгу дома.

is usually preferred over the longer перед тем, как… variants in casual conversation.