Learn Hardcore Russian: В каждый свободный вечер я либо немного почитаю по-русски, либо немного погуляю, чтобы мозг отдохнул. - Every free evening I either read a bit in Russian or take a short walk so that my brain rests.

Literally, «В каждый свободный вечер» is “in every free evening”, but idiomatically it means “on every free evening” / “every free evening (when I have time)”.

In Russian, в + accusative is often used with time expressions:

в этот вечер – this evening
в понедельник – on Monday
в прошлую субботу – last Saturday
в каждый свободный вечер – on every free evening

So в here corresponds more to English “on” than “in”.

You could also say simply «каждый свободный вечер» without в; it would still be correct and very natural. Adding в makes it sound a bit more like specific occasions in time: on each such evening.

What case is «каждый свободный вечер» in, and why?

«каждый свободный вечер» is in the accusative singular:

каждый – accusative masculine singular of каждый (each, every)
свободный вечер – accusative masculine singular (same form as nominative for inanimate nouns)

It’s accusative because:

Time expressions with в use the accusative when you mean “on/at (this time)”:
- в этот вечер
- в следующую неделю
- в каждый свободный вечер

Why are the verbs «почитаю» and «погуляю» in the future tense, when English would normally say “I read / I walk” (present)?

In Russian, you often have a choice:

Imperfective present for a general, regular habit:
- Каждый вечер я читаю. – I read every evening.
Perfective future for each separate occurrence seen as a whole:
- Каждый вечер я прочитаю одну главу. – Each evening I will read one chapter (each evening – one completed action).

In your sentence:

почитаю (perfective future of читать)
погуляю (perfective future of гулять)

These forms emphasize “I will (on that evening) read a bit / go for a walk (as one short completed action)”. The phrase «каждый свободный вечер» suggests a series of future free evenings, and the speaker sees each free evening as one occasion where they will do one of these short activities.

In English we naturally say:

Every free evening I either read a bit in Russian or go for a little walk…

but Russian is comfortable using the perfective future here to focus on each separate instance.

What is the nuance of «почитаю» compared to just «почитаю» vs «читаю» vs «прочитаю»?

All are from читать (to read), but with different aspect/meaning:

читаю – imperfective present:
- I read / I am reading / I usually read.
- Focus on the process or habit, not on completion.
почитаю – perfective future with the по- prefix:
- “I’ll read for a while / I’ll read a bit.”
- по- here often adds the idea of a short, limited action.
прочитаю – perfective future with про-:
- “I’ll read (something) from beginning to end / get it read.”
- Focus on completion of the whole text, not on the duration.

In the sentence, «немного почитаю по-русски» = “I’ll read in Russian a little (for a bit)”, which fits perfectly with немного.

What does «немного» do here, and where does it normally go in the sentence?

«немного» means “a little, a bit, not very much”. It can refer to time/duration, quantity, or intensity.

немного почитаю – I’ll read a bit / for a little while.
немного погуляю – I’ll walk a bit / for a little while.

Usual positions:

Very commonly before the verb:
- немного почитаю, немного погуляю
Sometimes after the verb, but it sounds more marked:
- почитаю немного – also OK, slightly different rhythm/emphasis.

In this sentence, putting немного before both verbs nicely parallels the two options:
«либо немного почитаю…, либо немного погуляю…».

What is the difference between «либо» and «или», and why repeat «либо»?

Both или and либо can mean “or”, but there are nuances:

или is the most common everyday “or”.
либо is:
- slightly more formal/neutral in tone, and
- often used in the paired structure «либо … либо …» (“either … or …”).

In your sentence:

я либо немного почитаю по-русски, либо немного погуляю…

This is the standard «либо … либо …» parallel construction:
either I will read a bit in Russian, or I will go for a little walk…

You could say «я или почитаю…, или погуляю…», but «либо … либо …» often sounds smoother and slightly more stylistically neat here.

What exactly does «по-русски» mean, and how is it different from «на русском» or «русский»?

по-русски is an adverbial form meaning “in Russian” (as a language).

Common patterns:

говорить по-русски – to speak Russian
читать по-русски – to read in Russian
писать по-русски – to write in Russian

Differences:

по-русски – focuses on the language/manner:
- почитаю по-русски – I’ll read in Russian (using Russian language).
на русском (языке) – almost the same meaning, but a bit more “prepositional phrase” style:
- читать на русском – to read in Russian.
  Often interchangeable with по-русски here.
читать русский / русскую книгу – now “Russian” describes the object, not the language:
- читать русский alone is incomplete/ungrammatical (you need a noun: язык, текст, журнал, etc.)
- читать русскую книгу – to read a Russian book (a book written in Russian).

So «немного почитаю по-русски» is best understood as
“I’ll read a bit in the Russian language.”

What does «погуляю» mean, and how is it different from «гуляю» or «буду гулять»?

All are related to гулять (to walk / stroll):

гуляю – imperfective present:
- I walk / I am walking / I go for walks (habitually).
буду гулять – future imperfective:
- I will be walking / I will walk (focusing on the process, often longer or habitual).
погуляю – perfective future with по-:
- I’ll have a walk for a while, I’ll go for a little walk.
- Again, по- suggests a short, limited action.

In the sentence «немного погуляю» tightly matches that idea:
“I’ll go for a short walk / I’ll walk a bit.”

How should I understand «чтобы мозг отдохнул» grammatically and meaning-wise?

«чтобы мозг отдохнул» literally is:

чтобы – so that / in order that
мозг – the brain
отдохнул – (perfective past form of отдохнуть) “rested”

But in this structure, it means:

“so that my brain can rest / in order for my brain to rest.”

Grammar points:

чтобы introduces a purpose clause:
- Я делаю это, чтобы… – I do this (in order) to…
After чтобы, Russian frequently uses a past-tense form (often perfective) to express a desired / intended result, even though it refers to the future relative to the main verb.
- Я лягу пораньше, чтобы выспаться. – I’ll go to bed earlier so that I can get enough sleep.
- …погуляю, чтобы мозг отдохнул. – …so that my brain can rest.

So here, «отдохнул» is not a real past; it functions like an “irrealis” / subjunctive-like form after чтобы.

Why is it «чтобы мозг отдохнул» and not «чтобы мозг отдыхал» or «чтобы мозг отдохнёт»?

Comparisons:

чтобы мозг отдохнул – standard, natural:
- so that my brain (will) have rested / can rest (achieved result).
чтобы мозг отдыхал – possible, but means:
- so that my brain be resting (focus on the ongoing process, less on the result).
  It would fit better if the focus were on a continuous state.
чтобы мозг отдохнёт – incorrect in standard Russian.
After чтобы, you don’t put a straightforward future like that; you use the (often perfective) past tense form to express the desired result.

So «чтобы мозг отдохнул» is the natural way to say “so that my brain can/does rest” as a result of my reading/walking.

Why is there no «мой» in «чтобы мозг отдохнул»? Shouldn’t it be “my brain”?

Russian often omits possessive pronouns where English requires them, especially with body parts and things clearly belonging to the subject:

Я мою руки. – I wash (my) hands.
Я сломал ногу. – I broke (my) leg.
чтобы мозг отдохнул – so that (my) brain can rest.

Context makes it obvious that it’s my brain. Saying «чтобы мой мозг отдохнул» is grammatically correct but sounds more emphatic or contrastive (e.g. not yours, but mine), which isn’t needed here.

Why are commas used around «либо» and before «чтобы»?

Punctuation here follows standard Russian rules:

Comma between the two «либо»-parts:
- The sentence has two main clauses joined by «либо … либо …»:
  - я либо немного почитаю по-русски,
  - либо немного погуляю…
- Russian normally puts a comma between the two coordinated clauses.
Comma before «чтобы»:
- чтобы мозг отдохнул is a subordinate purpose clause.
- Subordinate clauses in Russian are separated from the main clause by a comma:
  - …немного погуляю, чтобы мозг отдохнул.

So both commas are compulsory in standard written Russian:
…я либо немного почитаю по-русски, либо немного погуляю, чтобы мозг отдохнул.

Can the word order be changed, for example with «по-русски», «немного», or «в каждый свободный вечер»?

Russian word order is flexible, but there are more natural and less natural options.

Original:

В каждый свободный вечер я либо немного почитаю по-русски, либо немного погуляю…

Some acceptable variants:

Каждый свободный вечер я либо немного почитаю по-русски, либо немного погуляю…
(without в – still natural)
В каждый свободный вечер я либо по-русски немного почитаю, либо немного погуляю…
(OK, but the rhythm is a bit less smooth.)

Less natural or awkward:

Я либо немного почитаю по-русски в каждый свободный вечер…
– Grammatically possible, but sounds clumsy; the time phrase в каждый свободный вечер usually goes at the beginning or end of the clause.
В каждый свободный вечер либо я немного почитаю по-русски, либо немного погуляю…
– Possible, but либо я adds an unusual emphasis on я.

The given order is very natural and typical: time frame first, subject, then the two options in parallel.