После сытного обеда мне хочется немного отдохнуть.

Because после always requires the genitive case in Russian.

So:

• сытный обед = a hearty/filling lunch (nominative, dictionary form)
• после сытного обеда = after a hearty/filling lunch (genitive)

Both words change because the adjective must agree with the noun:

• обед → обеда
• сытный → сытного

This is a very common pattern:

• после урока = after the lesson
• после работы = after work
• после хорошего фильма = after a good film

Сытный means filling, substantial, or hearty—something that makes you feel full.

So сытный обед is not just any lunch. It suggests a meal that was satisfying and fairly substantial.

It is related to the idea of being full:

• сытый = full, not hungry
• сытный = filling

So the sentence gives the natural idea: after a big, satisfying lunch, you feel like resting.

This is one of the most important things to notice in the sentence.

• я хочу = I want
• мне хочется = I feel like, I have a desire to, I’m in the mood to

So мне хочется немного отдохнуть sounds softer and more natural here than я хочу немного отдохнуть.

Grammatically:

• я хочу uses the subject я in the nominative
• мне хочется uses мне in the dative, because the construction is impersonal

A very literal way to think of it is something like:

• мне хочется = to me, it feels desirable

In real English, of course, you would usually say:

• I feel like resting a bit
• I’d like to rest a little

Хочется is an impersonal form related to хотеться.

Compare:

• хотеть = to want
• хотеться = to feel like, to have a desire to

The form хочется is used in impersonal sentences, often with a person in the dative:

• мне хочется спать = I feel sleepy / I feel like sleeping
• ему хочется есть = he feels like eating / he is hungry
• нам хочется поехать домой = we feel like going home

So in your sentence:

• мне = to me
• хочется = feels desirable / I feel like
• отдохнуть = to rest

Because отдохнуть is the perfective verb, and here it means to rest for a while and achieve the result of having rested.

Compare:

• отдыхать = imperfective, to be resting / to rest in general
• отдохнуть = perfective, to get some rest / to rest and feel refreshed

After verbs like хочется, Russian often uses the infinitive that best matches the intended meaning. Here the speaker means:

• not just the activity of resting in general,
• but getting a bit of rest.

So мне хочется немного отдохнуть is very natural.

If you said мне хочется отдыхать, it would sound more like:

• I feel like resting as an ongoing activity,
• or I feel like taking it easy in a broader sense.

Немного means a little, a bit, or for a short while.

In this sentence:

• немного отдохнуть = to rest a little / to get a bit of rest

Its position before the infinitive is very natural. Russian word order is flexible, but this is the neutral order here.

You may also hear similar options like:

• чуть-чуть отдохнуть = rest a tiny bit
• немножко отдохнуть = rest a little bit

These are close in meaning, though немного is neutral and standard.

Yes, that is a useful literal way to understand the grammar.

A more word-for-word breakdown is:

• После = after
• сытного обеда = a hearty lunch / of a hearty lunch
• мне = to me
• хочется = it is wanted / it feels desirable
• немного отдохнуть = to rest a little

So literally:

• After a hearty lunch, to me it feels desirable to rest a little.

But in natural English, you would usually say:

• After a hearty lunch, I feel like resting a bit.
• After a filling lunch, I want to rest a little.

Literal translations are useful for grammar, but not for natural phrasing.

Because Russian often expresses experiences through an impersonal construction instead of using a normal subject.

In мне хочется, the person experiencing the feeling appears in the dative case:

• мне = to me
• тебе = to you
• ему/ей = to him/her
• нам = to us

So Russian does not need я here. The idea is not framed as I want, but as to me, a desire arises or I feel like.

This is very common in Russian:

• мне холодно = I am cold
• мне скучно = I am bored
• мне не спится = I can’t sleep / I don’t feel sleepy
• мне хочется кофе = I feel like having coffee

Yes, absolutely.

• После обеда мне хочется немного отдохнуть = After lunch, I feel like resting a bit.

This is a simpler and very natural sentence.

Adding сытного gives extra meaning:

• not just after lunch
• but after a filling/hearty lunch

So сытного is optional from a grammar point of view, but it adds flavor and context.

The given word order is very natural and neutral:

• После сытного обеда мне хочется немного отдохнуть.

Russian word order is flexible, but changing it changes the emphasis.

For example:

• Мне хочется немного отдохнуть после сытного обеда.

  • More focus on the desire to rest; the time phrase comes later.

• Немного отдохнуть мне хочется после сытного обеда.

  • More emphasis on resting a little.

• После сытного обеда хочется немного отдохнуть.

  • Also natural; мне is omitted if the subject is understood from context, though keeping мне is clearer.

For learners, the original order is a very good model.

Yes, but the meaning and tone change a little.

• После сытного обеда мне хочется немного отдохнуть.

  • I feel like resting a bit.
  • Softer, more spontaneous, more like a natural feeling.

• После сытного обеда я хочу немного отдохнуть.

  • After a hearty lunch, I want to rest a little.
  • More direct and straightforward.

Both are grammatical. In this kind of sentence, though, мне хочется often sounds more idiomatic because it describes a physical or emotional urge that naturally comes after eating.

All three can work depending on context.

In this sentence, отдохнуть most naturally means:

• to rest
• to have a rest
• sometimes to relax a bit

The exact English choice depends on style:

• After a hearty lunch, I feel like resting a bit.
• After a hearty lunch, I feel like having a little rest.
• After a hearty lunch, I feel like relaxing for a while.

Russian отдохнуть often includes the idea of recovering energy, not just doing nothing.

Not necessarily, but that idea is strongly suggested.

The sentence literally says the speaker feels like resting a little after a filling lunch. That could mean:

• feeling sleepy
• feeling lazy
• wanting to sit or lie down
• wanting a short break

If the speaker specifically wanted to say they feel sleepy, they could say something like:

• После сытного обеда мне хочется спать. = After a hearty lunch, I feel sleepy / I feel like sleeping.

But мне хочется немного отдохнуть is broader and softer.

Мне is the dative case of я.

The forms are:

• я = I
• мне = to me

It is used because хочется is part of an impersonal construction where the experiencer is in the dative:

• мне хочется = I feel like
• тебе хочется = you feel like
• ему хочется = he feels like
• ей хочется = she feels like

This is a pattern worth memorizing as a whole:

• мне хочется + infinitive
• тебе хочется + infinitive
• ему/ей хочется + infinitive

For example:

• Мне хочется есть. = I feel like eating.
• Мне хочется пить. = I feel like drinking.
• Мне хочется поспать. = I feel like sleeping a bit.