У моей сестры длинная коса, но иногда она распускает её и делает мягкие кудри с ровным пробором.

Russian usually expresses have with the pattern у + genitive + есть / implied “is” rather than with a verb like to have.

So:

• У моей сестры длинная коса literally means something like At my sister, there is a long braid
• Natural English: My sister has a long braid

Using иметь is possible in Russian, but it is often more formal, abstract, or bookish. In everyday speech, possession is usually expressed with у.

Because the preposition у requires the genitive case.

Base form:

• сестра = sister

Genitive singular:

• сестры = of (my) sister / at (my) sister

So:

• у моей сестры = my sister has / literally at my sister’s

The adjective/pronoun also changes to match:

• моя сестра
• у моей сестры

Because моей has to agree with сестры, which is in the genitive singular feminine.

Compare:

• моя сестра = my sister
• у моей сестры = of my sister / my sister has

So both words change:

• моя → моей
• сестра → сестры

This is normal adjective/pronoun agreement in Russian.

Because it is the thing being described as existing/being possessed.

In a sentence like:

• У моей сестры длинная коса

the possessed thing is usually in the nominative:

• длинная коса = a long braid

So the structure is:

• у + genitive possessor
• nominative thing possessed

This is one of the most common possession patterns in Russian.

Yes, коса can mean different things depending on context:

• коса = braid, plait
• коса = scythe
• коса can also relate to a spit of land in some contexts

Here, because the sentence talks about hair, curls, and a parting, коса clearly means braid/plait.

So:

• длинная коса = a long braid

Russian often includes the subject pronoun when it helps clarity, rhythm, or contrast.

Here:

• У моей сестры длинная коса, но иногда она распускает её...

The она helps re-establish the subject after the first clause and after но иногда. It sounds natural and clear.

Russian can omit pronouns in some contexts, but unlike Spanish or Italian, Russian does not drop them as regularly. So она here is perfectly normal.

Here распускать / распустить means to let down hair or to undo/unbraid it.

So:

• она распускает её = she lets it down / she undoes the braid

This is a very common verb with hair:

• распустить волосы = let one’s hair down
• распустить косу = undo a braid

The literal core idea of распускать is something like unfasten / loosen / let out.

Because the sentence describes something that happens sometimes, as a repeated or habitual action:

• иногда она распускает её и делает...

The word иногда strongly suggests repeated behavior, so the imperfective is the natural choice.

Compare:

• она распускает её = she sometimes lets it down / habitually does so
• она распустит её = she will let it down (one completed future occasion)
• она распустила её = she let it down (one completed past occasion)

So the imperfective fits the idea of sometimes.

Её refers back to коса.

So:

• коса = braid
• она распускает её = she lets it down

Grammatically:

• коса is feminine
• so the pronoun is её

Also note that её is the accusative/genitive form of она.

Yes. In modern Russian, ё is often written as е in ordinary texts, so you may see:

• её
• ее

Both mean the same thing here.

However:

• её is clearer for learners
• dictionaries and teaching materials often prefer ё
• many native speakers omit the dots in everyday writing

So both are correct in practice, but её is easier to read accurately.

Yes, this is a natural enough way to talk about styling hair.

• делать кудри = to make curls
• делать причёску = to do/style one’s hair

So делает мягкие кудри means she styles her hair into soft curls.

Depending on context, Russian could also use more specific verbs, such as:

• завивает волосы = curls her hair
• делает волосы кудрявыми = makes her hair curly

But делает мягкие кудри is understandable and idiomatic in the context of hairstyle/styling.

Because they are the direct object of делает.

Base forms:

• мягкие кудри = soft curls

After делать, the direct object normally goes in the accusative.

But with inanimate plural nouns, the accusative looks the same as the nominative:

• nominative plural: мягкие кудри
• accusative plural: мягкие кудри

So the form does not visibly change, even though the function is accusative.

They are related but not always identical.

• кудри = curls, curly locks
• локоны = locks/ringlets, often a bit more elegant or stylized

Кудри is a common everyday word for curls.
In this sentence, мягкие кудри means soft curls.

So yes, they are close in meaning, but кудри is the more basic, common word here.

The preposition с here means with, and after it Russian uses the instrumental case.

Base forms:

• ровный пробор = an even/straight parting

After с:

• с ровным пробором = with an even/straight parting

So:

• ровным is instrumental singular
• пробором is instrumental singular

This phrase describes the hairstyle:

• soft curls with a neat straight parting

Пробор means a hair part / parting — the line where the hair is divided.

Examples:

• прямой пробор = a middle part / straight part
• боковой пробор = a side part

So:

• с ровным пробором means with a neat, straight, even parting

The adjective ровный here suggests that the parting is clean and even.

Because ровный has a broad meaning range: even, level, straight, regular, neat.

With пробор, it usually means:

• clean
• even
• straight-looking

So in hair context:

• ровный пробор = a neat straight parting

A literal one-word translation like even parting is possible, but in natural English straight or neat often sounds better.

Because Russian has no articles.

So:

• длинная коса can mean a long braid or the long braid, depending on context
• мягкие кудри can mean soft curls
• ровный пробор can mean a neat/straight parting

English has to choose a or the, but Russian leaves that to context.

Yes, that is grammatically possible.

• У моей сестры длинная коса
• У моей сестры есть длинная коса

Both can mean My sister has a long braid.

But in Russian, есть is often omitted in present-tense possession when the meaning is obvious. The version without есть is very natural and common.

Very roughly:

• without есть = neutral, common
• with есть = can sound slightly more explicit, especially if emphasizing existence/possession

So the original version is completely normal.

It breaks down like this:

• У моей сестры длинная коса = My sister has a long braid
• но иногда = but sometimes
• она распускает её = she lets it down / undoes it
• и делает мягкие кудри = and makes soft curls
• с ровным пробором = with a neat straight parting

So the sentence moves from:

1. describing her usual hair situation,
2. to what she sometimes does with it,
3. to the resulting hairstyle.