Перед сном я убираю телефон в ящик тумбочки.

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Breakdown of Перед сном я убираю телефон в ящик тумбочки.

• в: in
• телефон: the phone
• перед: before

Questions & Answers about Перед сном я убираю телефон в ящик тумбочки.

Why is it перед сном, not перед сон?

Because перед normally takes the instrumental case when it means before / in front of.

• сон = sleep
• сном = instrumental singular of сон

So перед сном literally means before sleep, and in natural English it often corresponds to before going to sleep or before bed.

What exactly does убираю mean here? I thought убирать meant to clean.

Here убираю means I put away or I tidy away, not I clean.

The verb убирать / убрать can have several related meanings, including:

• to clean up
• to remove
• to put away

In this sentence, it means that the speaker takes the phone and puts it somewhere out of the way, into the drawer.

Why is убираю in the present tense if this sounds like a completed action?