Мама переворачивает котлеты лопаткой на сковороде.

Переворачивает is the 3rd person singular present-tense form of the verb переворачивать, which is imperfective.

It agrees with мама (mom), which is a singular subject, so she turns / is turning.

Breakdown:

• переворачивать = to turn over, to flip repeatedly / as a process
• переворачивает = she turns / she is turning over

Russian present tense can often translate as either:

• turns
• is turning

depending on context.

Russian uses the imperfective here because the sentence describes an ongoing action or a general scene in progress: Mom is in the middle of flipping the cutlets.

The imperfective verb is:

• переворачивать → ongoing, repeated, process-focused

Its perfective partner is usually:

• перевернуть → to flip/turn over once, as a completed action

So:

• Мама переворачивает котлеты... = Mom is flipping the cutlets...
• Мама перевернёт котлеты... = Mom will flip the cutlets / finish flipping them

Котлеты is the accusative plural form of котлета because it is the direct object of the verb: it is what Mom is flipping.

Singular:

• котлета = a cutlet / patty

Plural:

• котлеты = cutlets / patties

For inanimate feminine nouns in the plural, the accusative plural usually looks the same as the nominative plural. So:

• nominative plural: котлеты
• accusative plural: котлеты

That is why the form does not change here.

Лопаткой is the instrumental case form of лопатка.

Russian often uses the instrumental case to show the tool or means by which something is done.

So:

• лопатка = spatula
• лопаткой = with a spatula

This is very common:

• писать ручкой = to write with a pen
• резать ножом = to cut with a knife
• есть вилкой = to eat with a fork

So лопаткой answers the question with what?

На сковороде uses the prepositional case after на because it expresses location: on the frying pan / in the pan.

Base form:

• сковорода = frying pan

Prepositional singular:

• на сковороде = on/in the frying pan

With на, Russian can mean either:

• location → where something is happening → usually prepositional
• direction → where something is moving to → usually accusative

Compare:

• котлеты на сковороде = the cutlets are in the pan
• положить котлеты на сковороду = to put the cutlets into the pan

In natural English, it usually means in the frying pan, even though Russian says на сковороде literally with на.

This is just one of those places where Russian and English use different prepositions.

So in this sentence:

• на сковороде = in the pan

You should learn it as the normal Russian expression for cooking in a frying pan.

Yes. Russian word order is much more flexible than English word order because the cases show the grammatical roles.

The neutral order here is:

• Мама переворачивает котлеты лопаткой на сковороде.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Мама лопаткой переворачивает котлеты на сковороде.
• На сковороде мама переворачивает котлеты лопаткой.
• Котлеты мама переворачивает лопаткой на сковороде.

These versions are not identical in emphasis:

• putting на сковороде first highlights the setting
• putting котлеты first highlights what is being flipped
• putting лопаткой earlier highlights the tool

So the word order can change, but the speaker’s focus changes too.

Russian has no articles like English a/an/the.

So:

• мама can mean mom, a mom, or the mom
• котлеты can mean cutlets, the cutlets, or sometimes some cutlets

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English would probably naturally use Mom is flipping the cutlets with a spatula in the frying pan, but Russian does not need separate words for the or a.

Мама is the everyday, affectionate word meaning Mom or Mama.

It is less formal than:

• мать = mother

So this sentence sounds natural and domestic, like an everyday scene in a kitchen.

Not always. Котлеты in Russian often refers to pan-fried minced-meat patties, something closer to what English speakers might call:

• meat patties
• croquettes
• sometimes loosely cutlets

So although cutlets is a common dictionary translation, the Russian food item is often not exactly the same as an English cutlet.

Yes. Russian present tense often covers both:

• a simple present meaning
• a present progressive meaning

So Мама переворачивает котлеты can mean:

• Mom flips the cutlets (habitual or general)
• Mom is flipping the cutlets (right now)

The surrounding context tells you which meaning is intended. In a sentence like this, the most natural interpretation is usually is flipping.

Yes, that is also grammatical.

Both are possible:

• Мама переворачивает котлеты лопаткой на сковороде.
• Мама переворачивает котлеты на сковороде лопаткой.

The difference is mainly one of flow and focus, not basic grammar.

A speaker might place:

• лопаткой closer to the verb to emphasize the tool
• на сковороде earlier to emphasize where the action is happening

Russian allows this flexibility much more than English does.

You can tell from a combination of:

• verb agreement
• case endings
• meaning

Here:

• Мама is the subject: the person doing the action
• переворачивает is singular, matching мама
• котлеты is the direct object in the accusative plural
• лопаткой is instrumental: the tool
• на сковороде is prepositional: the location

So the structure is:

Мама — who?
переворачивает — does what?
котлеты — what is she flipping?
лопаткой — with what?
на сковороде — where?