После ужина я убираю мусор со стола.

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Breakdown of После ужина я убираю мусор со стола.

• стол: the table
• ужин: the dinner
• после: after

Questions & Answers about После ужина я убираю мусор со стола.

Why is it после ужина and not после ужин?

Because после requires the genitive case.

• Dictionary form: ужин = dinner
• Genitive singular: ужина

So:

• после ужина = after dinner

This is a very common pattern in Russian:

• после работы = after work
• после урока = after the lesson
• после фильма = after the film

Why is it со стола? Why not с стола or со стола?

The basic preposition is с, meaning from / off in this sentence.

However, Russian often uses со instead of с when it sounds easier to pronounce. Before some consonant clusters, со is preferred.

So:

• с + стола becomes со стола

Also, стола is in the genitive case, because с/со here means movement from a surface:

• стол = table
• со стола = from the table / off the table

Why is стола in the genitive case?

Because the preposition с/со can mean , and in that meaning it takes the .