Когда внучка приходит в гости, она кое-что рисует для бабушки и потом долго всё объясняет.

In Russian, the present tense is often used for repeated, habitual actions.

So Когда внучка приходит в гости... means something like:

• When the granddaughter comes to visit...
• or Whenever the granddaughter comes over...

This is not necessarily about one specific visit happening right now. It can describe a usual pattern.

That is very normal in Russian:

• Когда он приходит, он сразу ест. = When / Whenever he comes, he eats right away.

So the present tense here is functioning like a general present.

Приходит comes from приходить, which means to come / to arrive.

Russian distinguishes between:

• идти = to be going, to be on the way right now
• ходить = to go habitually / back and forth / by foot
• приходить = to come, to arrive, especially as a completed arrival in a repeated or habitual sense

So:

• внучка идёт в гости = the granddaughter is going to visit (she is on her way)
• внучка приходит в гости = the granddaughter comes over / arrives as a guest

Here the idea is not the process of walking, but the event of coming over.

В гости is a very common Russian expression meaning:

• to visit someone
• as a guest
• over to someone’s place

So приходить в гости means to come over to visit.

Examples:

• Я иду в гости к другу. = I’m going to a friend’s place.
• Они часто ходят в гости. = They often visit people / go over as guests.

Even though гости literally looks like guests, the whole phrase в гости works as a fixed expression.

Внучка is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the actions:

• she comes
• she draws
• she explains

The basic dictionary form is внучка = granddaughter.

Cases in Russian change depending on the role in the sentence, but here the role is simply the subject.

Yes, Russian often can leave pronouns out when the meaning is obvious from the verb form.

So after внучка приходит в гости, it would be possible in some contexts to continue without она.

But она is very natural here because it:

• makes the sentence clearer
• separates the next clause nicely
• keeps the focus on the granddaughter

So она кое-что рисует... sounds smooth and explicit.

Russian uses pronouns less often than English, but not never. Here including она is completely normal.

Кое-что means something, but with a slightly special nuance. It often suggests:

• something or other
• a certain thing
• a few things
• something not specified, but real and concrete

In this sentence, она кое-что рисует suggests she draws something — maybe a little picture, maybe some things — without naming exactly what.

Compared with что-то:

• что-то = something, often just indefinite or unknown
• кое-что = something specific in the speaker’s mind, but not spelled out

Very roughly:

• что-то = some thing
• кое-что = a little something / something in particular

Also note the spelling: кое-что is written with a hyphen.

Because что is a neuter singular pronoun, and кое-что is built on it.

Even though in English we may think of it as something or even a few things, grammatically Russian treats it as a singular pronoun.

That is why the verb is singular:

• она кое-что рисует not
• она кое-что рисуют

Для means for, and after для, Russian uses the genitive case.

So:

• бабушка = nominative
• для бабушки = for grandmother

This phrase shows who the drawing is intended for — for Grandma.

So the structure is:

• рисует для бабушки = draws for Grandma

Yes, in some contexts Russian can use the dative with a person who benefits from the action:

• рисует бабушке = draws for Grandma

That is possible and natural.

The version in your sentence, рисует для бабушки, sounds a bit more explicitly like:

• the drawing is intended for her
• it is made for Grandma’s sake

So both can work, but they are not always identical in tone:

• рисует бабушке = draws Grandma something
• рисует для бабушки = draws something for Grandma

The sentence you have emphasizes the intended recipient with для.

Because для requires the genitive case, not the dative.

Here are the forms:

• бабушка = nominative
• бабушки = genitive
• бабушке = dative

So:

• для бабушки = correct
• для бабушке = incorrect

This is just one of those important Russian case rules: certain prepositions always control certain cases.

Grammatically, this part has:

• потом = then / afterwards
• долго = for a long time
• всё = everything / it all
• объясняет = explains

So the structure is:

• потом modifies the sequence of events
• долго modifies the verb объясняет
• всё is the object of объясняет

In other words, after drawing something, she then spends a long time explaining everything.

These are two different words/forms:

• всё = everything, all of it
• все = all, everyone, all people/things

In your sentence, всё means everything or all of it, so the neuter singular form is needed.

Compare:

• Она всё объясняет. = She explains everything.
• Все пришли. = Everyone came.
• Все книги здесь. = All the books are here.

So всё is the correct form because it refers to the whole content of what she drew and wants to explain.

The verb объяснять is imperfective. That fits well here because the sentence describes:

• a repeated habit
• an ongoing activity
• a process that takes time

And that matches долго especially well:

• долго объясняет = explains for a long time

If you used a perfective verb, the focus would be more on finishing the explanation, not on the process.

So imperfective is natural because the sentence presents a typical scene: she comes over, draws something, and then goes on explaining it at length.

Yes, Russian word order is fairly flexible, because case endings show the grammatical roles.

The given order is natural and neutral:

• Когда внучка приходит в гости, она кое-что рисует для бабушки и потом долго всё объясняет.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Когда внучка приходит в гости, для бабушки она кое-что рисует...
• ...и потом она долго всё объясняет.

The original order sounds smooth and unmarked:

1. time clause first
2. subject
3. action
4. recipient
5. next action

So while Russian allows movement, this version is a very standard one.

Russian has no articles.

So nouns like:

• внучка
• бабушка

can mean:

• a granddaughter / the granddaughter
• a grandmother / the grandmother

The exact meaning comes from context.

In your sentence, English probably uses the granddaughter and the grandmother because the people are understood in context. Russian does not need separate words for that.

It can feel like either one in English, depending on context.

Because the verbs are in the present tense and describe a repeated pattern, когда here often has the sense of:

• when
• whenever

So:

• Когда внучка приходит в гости... can mean When the granddaughter comes over...
• but also Whenever the granddaughter comes over...

Russian does not always need a separate word for the difference. The broader sentence usually makes the habitual meaning clear.

Yes. Долго is the adverb form meaning for a long time or long in the sense of duration.

It modifies the verb объясняет:

• долго объясняет = explains for a long time

Compare:

• долгий = long (adjective)
• долго = for a long time / long (adverb)

Examples:

• долгий разговор = a long conversation
• долго говорит = speaks for a long time

So here долго tells you how long the explaining lasts.