На обед я приготовил салат с фасолью и кукурузой.

На обед means for lunch.

Russian often puts time or context information near the beginning of the sentence. So На обед я приготовил... sounds natural and sets the scene first: As for lunch / For lunch, I made...

You could also say:

Я приготовил на обед салат с фасолью и кукурузой.

That is also correct. The difference is mostly one of emphasis and flow, not basic meaning.

Because на обед means for lunch or as lunch.

Here, обед is in the accusative case after на, because the phrase expresses purpose/result: something prepared for lunch.

By contrast, на обеде means at lunch or during lunch, and uses the prepositional case.

Compare:

• Я приготовил салат на обед. = I made salad for lunch.
• Я ел салат на обеде. = I ate salad at lunch.

Yes, Russian often omits subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb.

So both of these are possible:

• Я приготовил салат...
• Приготовил салат...

The version with я is more explicit and can add emphasis or clarity. Learners will often see pronouns included more often than native speakers would use them in casual speech.

Приготовил is the perfective form, and it shows a completed action: the salad was made.

That fits this sentence well, because the speaker is talking about a finished result.

• готовил = was cooking / used to cook / was in the process of preparing
• приготовил = prepared / made, and finished it

So:

• Я готовил салат. = I was making salad / I made salad (with focus on process, context-dependent)
• Я приготовил салат. = I prepared the salad (completed action)

That is the past tense form.

In Russian, past tense is usually formed from the infinitive stem plus -л, and it also agrees with gender and number:

• приготовил = masculine singular
• приготовила = feminine singular
• приготовило = neuter singular
• приготовили = plural

So я приготовил usually tells you the speaker is male.
If the speaker were female, it would be:

На обед я приготовила салат с фасолью и кукурузой.

Because салат is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. But for an inanimate masculine noun like салат, the accusative singular looks exactly the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: салат
• accusative: салат

That is why there is no visible change.

Compare with an animate masculine noun, where accusative often matches the genitive:

• я вижу брата = I see my brother

But:

• я приготовил салат = I made salad

Because the preposition с meaning with normally requires the instrumental case.

So:

• фасоль → с фасолью
• кукуруза → с кукурузой

This phrase describes what the salad contains: salad with beans and corn.

Фасоль is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign -ь. In the instrumental singular, nouns of this type usually end in -ью.

So:

• nominative: фасоль
• instrumental: фасолью

This pattern is common for feminine soft-sign nouns:

• дверь → дверью
• ночь → ночью
• фасоль → фасолью

Because кукуруза is a regular feminine noun ending in -а, and after с it must go into the instrumental singular.

For many feminine nouns in -а, the instrumental singular ends in -ой or -ей.

So:

• nominative: кукуруза
• instrumental: кукурузой

Other examples:

• вода → с водой
• мама → с мамой
• машина → с машиной

Yes. И simply joins the two nouns in a list: beans and corn.

The preposition с applies to the whole phrase, so both nouns are understood as part of the with... phrase:

с фасолью и кукурузой = with beans and corn

Russian does not need to repeat с before the second noun here.

You could repeat it in some contexts, but it would usually sound unnecessary:

• с фасолью и кукурузой = natural
• с фасолью и с кукурузой = possible, but usually less natural here

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and changing it usually changes emphasis, not the core meaning.

Some possible versions:

• На обед я приготовил салат с фасолью и кукурузой.
• Я приготовил на обед салат с фасолью и кукурузой.
• Салат с фасолью и кукурузой я приготовил на обед.

All are grammatical. The original version sounds natural because it introduces the context for lunch first, then the subject, then the completed action.

Yes, but the meaning changes a little.

• на обед = for lunch
• к обеду = by lunchtime / in time for lunch

So:

• Я приготовил салат на обед. = I made salad for lunch.
• Я приготовил салат к обеду. = I made salad by lunchtime / so it would be ready for lunch.

They are close, but not identical.

Russian has no articles, so салат can mean a salad or the salad, depending on context.

In this sentence, English would most naturally say a salad, but Russian does not mark that directly. You understand it from the situation.

So салат by itself can be:

• a salad
• the salad
• sometimes just salad

The context tells you which is intended.