Перед работой она любит краситься и слушать тихую музыку.

Because the preposition перед normally requires the instrumental case when it means before / in front of.

• работа = work
• instrumental singular: работой

So:

• перед работой = before work

This is a very common pattern:

• перед уроком = before class
• перед сном = before sleep / before bed
• перед встречей = before the meeting

So the form работой is there because of the preposition перед.

Here it means before work in the time sense.

Russian перед can mean both:

• before (time)
• in front of (place)

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly about time because it talks about things she likes doing as part of a routine:

• Она любит краситься и слушать тихую музыку перед работой.
• Before work, she likes to put on makeup and listen to quiet music.

So here перед работой means something like before starting work / before going to work.

Yes, both are possible.

Russian word order is more flexible than English. The sentence starts with Перед работой to set the scene first:

• Перед работой она любит краситься и слушать тихую музыку.

This feels like:

• Before work, she likes...

You could also say:

• Она любит краситься и слушать тихую музыку перед работой.

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

Because after любить (to like / to love) Russian often uses the infinitive to say that someone likes doing something.

Structure:

• любить + infinitive

Examples:

• Я люблю читать. = I like reading.
• Он любит готовить. = He likes cooking.
• Она любит краситься и слушать музыку. = She likes putting on makeup and listening to music.

This is similar to English like doing something, but Russian uses the infinitive form.

Краситься means to put on makeup / to wear makeup / to do one’s makeup, depending on context.

It comes from the verb красить = to paint / to dye / to color, and the reflexive ending -ся changes the meaning.

So:

• красить = to paint/color something
• краситься = to paint/color oneself, which in everyday usage often means to put on makeup

In this sentence, она любит краситься most naturally means:

• she likes putting on makeup
• or she likes doing her makeup

The ending -ся makes the verb reflexive, which often means the action is connected back to the subject.

Compare:

• красить волосы = to dye hair
• красить стену = to paint a wall
• краситься = to make oneself up / to put makeup on oneself

So -ся here suggests that she is doing something to herself, not to another object.

Russian uses reflexive verbs quite often where English does not. In this case, English just says to put on makeup, but Russian uses the reflexive verb краситься.

Because музыку is in the accusative case, since it is the direct object of слушать (to listen to).

Base form:

• тихая музыка = quiet music

But after слушать, you need the direct object:

• слушать что? = listen to what?
• музыку

Since музыка is a feminine noun, the adjective changes too:

• nominative: тихая музыка
• accusative: тихую музыку

So:

• слушать тихую музыку = to listen to quiet music

That is just how Russian works with this verb.

In Russian:

• слушать музыку = to listen to music

There is no preposition like English to.

So you can think of слушать as taking a direct object:

• слушать радио = listen to the radio
• слушать учителя = listen to the teacher
• слушать музыку = listen to music

This is a very common difference between Russian and English.

Yes, Russian can sometimes omit subject pronouns when the meaning is clear from context, but including она is completely normal.

Here она is used to make the subject explicit:

• Перед работой она любит... = Before work, she likes...

Without it, you might say:

• Перед работой любит краситься и слушать тихую музыку.

That can work in the right context, but it sounds less neutral on its own because the subject is not stated. In a standalone sentence, keeping она is natural and clear.

Usually likes is the best translation here.

Любить can mean both to love and to like, depending on context:

• Я люблю тебя. = I love you.
• Я люблю кофе. = I like/love coffee.
• Она любит слушать музыку. = She likes/loves listening to music.

In everyday English, she likes putting on makeup and listening to quiet music before work sounds more natural than she loves in this sentence, unless you want stronger emphasis.

These are imperfective infinitives:

• краситься
• слушать

The imperfective aspect is used because the sentence describes a habit, general preference, or ongoing kind of activity, not one completed action.

She likes doing these things as a routine before work. Russian normally uses the imperfective for that.

If you are talking about what someone generally likes to do, imperfective is usually the expected choice:

• любит читать
• любит гулять
• любит слушать музыку

In theory, yes, but in normal everyday usage, краситься most often means to put on makeup or sometimes to dye one’s hair, depending on context.

In this sentence, because it is paired with слушать тихую музыку and placed перед работой, the natural reading is:

• she likes doing her makeup and listening to quiet music before work

So this is not understood as literally painting herself.

It can overlap with all of those depending on context.

The adjective тихий basically means quiet or soft, but when talking about music, English might translate it in different ways:

• quiet music
• soft music
• sometimes calm music

The most direct translation is quiet music, but in natural English soft music may also sound very good depending on the situation.

Not especially—this is just a normal coordination structure.

Both infinitives depend on любит:

• она любит краситься
• она любит слушать тихую музыку

Russian avoids repeating любит, just as English would:

• She likes putting on makeup and listening to quiet music.

So the sentence is structured as:

• Before work,
• she likes
• to put on makeup and to listen to quiet music.

This is straightforward and very common in Russian.