Фермер кормит кроликов утром, а вечером даёт корове свежее сено.

Because кроликов is the accusative plural form, and кролик is an animate noun.

With animate masculine nouns in the plural, Russian uses the genitive plural form for the accusative. So:

• nominative plural: кролики = rabbits
• genitive plural: кроликов
• accusative plural: кроликов

Since кормить takes a direct object, and the farmer is feeding the rabbits, Russian uses the accusative:

• кормит кроликов = feeds the rabbits

This is a very common pattern:

• вижу студентов
• люблю собак
• кормлю кроликов

Because корове is in the dative singular, which marks the recipient of something.

The verb давать / дать often works like give something to someone:

• даёт = gives
• корове = to the cow
• свежее сено = fresh hay

So the structure is:

• даёт корове свежее сено
• literally: gives to the cow fresh hay

If it were корову, that would be accusative, meaning the cow itself is the direct object, which would not fit here.

Because сено is a neuter singular noun, so the adjective has to agree with it.

Russian adjectives agree with nouns in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• сено is neuter
• it is singular
• it is accusative, but since сено is inanimate, the accusative looks like the nominative

So the correct adjective form is:

• свежее сено

Compare:

• свежий хлеб = fresh bread masculine
• свежая трава = fresh grass feminine
• свежее сено = fresh hay neuter

These are fixed time expressions in the instrumental case.

Russian often uses the instrumental to express time when, especially with parts of the day:

• утром = in the morning
• вечером = in the evening
• днём = during the day
• ночью = at night

So even though English uses a preposition like in, Russian often does not.

This is just a normal pattern you will see a lot:

• Я работаю утром.
• Мы гуляем вечером.

Here а links two parts while also showing a contrast or shift in topic.

The sentence is not just saying two actions happen. It is setting up a contrast between:

• утром = in the morning
• вечером = in the evening

So а works well because it feels like:

• while
• whereas
• and then on the other hand

In many contexts, и would just mean a simple and, but а is more natural when comparing two different times, situations, or actions.

Because the two verbs mean slightly different things.

• кормить = to feed
• давать = to give

So:

• кормит кроликов means he feeds the rabbits
• даёт корове свежее сено means he gives fresh hay to the cow

Russian often uses кормить when talking about feeding animals or people in general, not just the act of handing over food. It sounds more natural than simply using давать for both parts.

Also, both verbs are in the 3rd person singular present tense:

• кормит = he/she feeds
• даёт = he/she gives

Because Russian has no articles.

English distinguishes:

• a farmer
• the farmer

Russian does not do this with separate words. Instead, the meaning depends on context.

So:

• фермер can mean a farmer or the farmer
• корове can mean to a cow or to the cow
• кроликов can mean rabbits or the rabbits

Usually the situation makes it clear.

Because Russian often leaves out subject pronouns when the subject is already clear.

The sentence starts with Фермер, so once the subject has been named, Russian does not need to repeat он.

That means:

• Фермер кормит кроликов утром, а вечером даёт корове свежее сено.

sounds natural.

If you added он, it would usually be for emphasis or contrast:

• Фермер кормит кроликов утром, а вечером он даёт корове свежее сено.

That is possible, but less neutral.

Not completely. Russian word order is fairly flexible, but the chosen order sounds natural and neutral.

This sentence presents information smoothly:

• subject: Фермер
• verb + object: кормит кроликов
• time: утром
• contrast: а вечером
• second verb phrase: даёт корове свежее сено

You could change the order for emphasis, for example:

• Утром фермер кормит кроликов, а вечером даёт корове свежее сено.
• Фермер утром кормит кроликов, а вечером даёт корове свежее сено.

These are also correct, but the emphasis shifts slightly.

The form даёт comes from давать and is pronounced with a stressed ё.

Important points:

• ё is always stressed
• it sounds roughly like yo
• даёт sounds like da-YOT

In many printed texts, Russians sometimes write е instead of ё, so you may also see дает. But the correct pronunciation is still даёт.

This matters because ё helps you know where the stress goes.

Yes:

• Фермер — nominative singular
  The subject of the sentence

• кроликов — accusative plural
  Direct object of кормит; because the noun is animate, this matches the genitive plural form

• утром — instrumental singular
  Used adverbially for time: in the morning

• вечером — instrumental singular
  Also a time expression: in the evening

• корове — dative singular
  The recipient after даёт

• свежее сено — accusative singular
  Direct object of даёт; since сено is inanimate neuter, accusative looks like nominative

So the sentence is a very good example of how Russian uses different cases for different roles:

• subject
• direct object
• recipient
• time expression