После ужина я убрала салат в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой.

Because после requires the genitive case.

• ужин = dinner
• ужина = of dinner / after dinner

So:

• после ужина = after dinner
• после работы = after work
• после урока = after the lesson

This is a very common pattern in Russian: certain prepositions always force a particular case, and после always takes the genitive.

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

Here the subject is я, but Russian past-tense verbs still show whether the speaker is male or female:

• я убрал = I put away / removed ... (male speaker)
• я убрала = I put away / removed ... (female speaker)

The same applies to закрыла:

• я закрыл = I closed ... (male speaker)
• я закрыла = I closed ... (female speaker)

So this sentence was said by a woman.

This is about aspect: perfective vs. imperfective.

• убрать → perfective
• убирать → imperfective

Here убрала is perfective, which means the action is seen as completed: she finished putting the salad away.

In this sentence, that makes sense because it tells a sequence of completed actions:

1. she put the salad into a container
2. she closed it with a lid

If you said убирала, it would sound more like the process, repetition, or background action, not a single completed result.

Literally, убрать can mean things like:

• remove
• put away
• clear away
• tidy up

In this sentence, убрала салат в контейнер means something like:

• put the salad into a container
• put the salad away in a container

So it is not just removed in a vague sense. It implies placing it somewhere appropriate, often to store it.

This is a common Russian usage:

• убрать еду в холодильник = put the food away in the fridge
• убрать вещи в шкаф = put the things away in the wardrobe

Here салат is the direct object of убрала, so it is in the accusative case.

But салат is:

• masculine
• inanimate
• singular

For many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative looks exactly like the nominative.

So:

• nominative: салат
• accusative: салат

That is why there is no visible change.

Compare with an animate masculine noun:

• я вижу брата = I see my brother

There, the accusative does change.

Because Russian uses different cases after в depending on whether you mean:

• motion into somewhere → accusative
• location inside somewhere → prepositional

Here the idea is putting the salad into the container, so we need motion/destination:

• в контейнер = into the container

Compare:

• салат в контейнере = the salad is in the container
• убрала салат в контейнер = put the salad into the container

This is a very important Russian pattern:

• положить в сумку = put into a bag
• лежать в сумке = lie in a bag

Его means it here, and it refers to контейнер.

So the meaning is:

• she put the salad into a container
• and closed the container with a lid

It does not naturally refer to салат, because you normally close a container, not a salad.

Russian often uses pronouns like this to avoid repeating the noun:

• взяла контейнер и закрыла его крышкой
• took the container and closed it with a lid

Крышкой is the instrumental case of крышка.

• крышка = lid
• крышкой = with a lid / by means of a lid

The instrumental case is often used for the tool, means, or instrument used to do something.

So:

• закрыла его крышкой = closed it with a lid

Other examples:

• резать ножом = cut with a knife
• писать ручкой = write with a pen
• накрыть одеялом = cover with a blanket

Yes, absolutely.

Both are natural:

• закрыла его крышкой
• закрыла контейнер крышкой

Using его avoids repeating контейнер, so it sounds smoother in connected speech.

Russian often prefers a pronoun when the reference is already clear.

Both verbs can involve a lid or cover, but they are not exactly the same.

• закрыть = to close, shut
• накрыть = to cover

With a container and a lid, закрыть is the most natural choice if the idea is that the container is now shut.

• закрыть контейнер крышкой = close the container with a lid

Накрыть focuses more on placing something over the top:

• накрыть кастрюлю крышкой = cover the pot with a lid

In many situations both can be understood, but закрыть emphasizes the completed state of being closed.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible.

The sentence:

• После ужина я убрала салат в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой.

is a neutral, natural order.

But Russian can rearrange words for emphasis. For example:

• Я после ужина убрала салат в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой.
• Салат я после ужина убрала в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis shifts.

The original version sounds very normal because it starts with the time expression после ужина and then gives the two actions in sequence.

Yes.

Russian allows time expressions to move around fairly freely:

• После ужина я убрала салат в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой.
• Я после ужина убрала салат в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой.
• Я убрала салат в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой после ужина.

All are grammatical. The first two are usually the most natural. The last one may sound as if the timing applies especially to the second action, depending on context, so placement can affect nuance.

Because Russian is describing two separate completed actions:

1. убрала салат в контейнер
2. закрыла его крышкой

This sequence is very natural in Russian. Each verb has its own object or complement:

• убрала → салат в контейнер
• закрыла → его крышкой

Using two verbs makes the process clear: first she transferred the salad, then she closed the container.

Yes. Контейнер is a common modern Russian word and is used in everyday speech, especially for storage containers, food containers, shipping containers, and so on.

For food, people might also say things like:

• в контейнер
• в пластиковый контейнер
• в лоток in some contexts

But контейнер is completely natural here.

Yes, Russian often omits personal pronouns when the subject is clear from the verb ending.

So you could say:

• После ужина убрала салат в контейнер и закрыла его крышкой.

This still clearly means I if the context already makes that obvious.

However, keeping я is also perfectly normal, especially if the speaker wants to be explicit or contrast themselves with someone else.