Когда малышка засыпает, мама тихо выключает свет.

quietly

Breakdown of Когда малышка засыпает, мама тихо выключает свет.

• когда: when
• мама: the mother
• свет: the light

Questions & Answers about Когда малышка засыпает, мама тихо выключает свет.

Why is there a comma after засыпает?

Because Когда малышка засыпает is a subordinate time clause introduced by когда (when). In Russian, clauses like this are normally separated by a comma:

• Когда малышка засыпает, мама тихо выключает свет.

This is true whether the когда-clause comes first or second:

• Когда малышка засыпает, мама тихо выключает свет.
• Мама тихо выключает свет, когда малышка засыпает.

Why are both verbs in the present tense?

Russian often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly or as a general pattern. Here the sentence means something like:

• Whenever the little girl is falling asleep, mom quietly turns off the light
• or When the little girl falls asleep, mom quietly turns off the light in a habitual sense.

So:

• засыпает = is falling asleep / falls asleep
• выключает = turns off

This is not necessarily about one specific moment happening right now. It sounds like a usual repeated situation.

What exactly does засыпает mean, and how is it different from спит?

Засыпает means is falling asleep or drifts off to sleep. It describes the process of going from awake to asleep.

Спит means .