После ужина я убираю мусор со стола.

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

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

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

Here the idea is:

• remove the trash from the table

So:

• стол = table
• со стола = from the table

Compare:

• на столе = on the table
• со стола = off the table / from the table

Убираю is the 1st person singular present tense of the imperfective verb убирать.

• убирать = to clean up / remove / put away / clear away
• убираю = I clean up / I am cleaning up / I clear away

Why this form?

1. убрать is the infinitive, so it means to clean up, not I clean up.
2. уберу is future from the perfective verb убрать:
   • я уберу мусор = I will clear away the trash
3. убираю is natural for:
   • a habitual action: After dinner, I clear the table
   • a present action in context: I’m clearing the table after dinner

This is a classic imperfective vs perfective pair.

• убирать = imperfective
  Focus on the process, repetition, or general action
• убрать = perfective
  Focus on the completed result

So:

• После ужина я убираю мусор со стола.
  = After dinner, I clear the trash from the table / I clean up the table after dinner.
  This sounds like a routine or a general statement.

• После ужина я уберу мусор со стола.
  = After dinner, I will clear the trash from the table.
  This refers to one future completed action.

Yes, pretty much.

Word by word:

• убираю = I remove / clean up / put away
• мусор = trash, garbage
• со стола = from the table / off the table

In natural English, depending on context, this could be translated as:

• I clear the table
• I clean the table off
• I throw away the trash from the table
• I clean up after dinner

So the Russian is slightly more literal than some English translations.

Because Russian has no articles.

English uses a/an and the, but Russian does not. Whether something is a table, the table, trash, or the trash is understood from context.

So:

• мусор can mean trash or the trash
• стол can mean a table or the table
• со стола can mean from the table or off a table, depending on context

In this sentence, English naturally uses the table because the context makes it specific.

Yes. Russian often drops subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form.

So both are possible:

• После ужина я убираю мусор со стола.
• После ужина убираю мусор со стола.

Since убираю already means I clean up, я is not strictly necessary.

Including я can:

• add emphasis
• make the sentence clearer
• sound slightly more explicit

It can be either, depending on context, but without extra context it most naturally sounds like a habit or regular action.

So:

• После ужина я убираю мусор со стола.
  often means After dinner, I clear the table / I usually clean up after dinner

Russian present tense can also describe something happening now, but in this sentence после ужина strongly suggests a routine sequence.

If you wanted to be very clearly future, you would more likely say:

• После ужина я уберу мусор со стола.
  = After dinner, I will clear the trash from the table.

This is a normal, neutral Russian word order:

1. time expression: После ужина
2. subject: я
3. verb: убираю
4. object: мусор
5. phrase of origin/location: со стола

Russian word order is more flexible than English, because case endings show grammatical roles. So other orders are also possible, for example:

• Я после ужина убираю мусор со стола.
• Мусор со стола я убираю после ужина.

These alternatives may change the emphasis, but the basic meaning stays the same.

Мусор is a very common general word meaning trash / garbage / rubbish. It is often used as an uncountable singular noun, much like English trash.

So:

• мусор = trash, garbage, rubbish

Other words are more specific:

• остатки еды = food leftovers
• отбросы = refuse/waste, more formal or less common in everyday speech
• крошки = crumbs

So мусор is broad and natural, though in real life a speaker might choose a more specific word if they mean only crumbs or leftovers.

Yes, you can, and it can sound quite natural if the object is obvious from context.

• После ужина я убираю со стола.

This means something like:

• After dinner, I clear the table
• After dinner, I clean things off the table

In that version, Russian leaves the object unstated because it is understood.
With мусор, the sentence is more explicit: you are specifically removing the trash/debris from the table.