Пусть тыква и сладкая, мне всё равно больше нравится черешня.

Here пусть does not mean a command like let.

In this sentence, пусть is used in a concessive sense, meaning something like:

• although
• even though
• granted that

So:

Пусть тыква и сладкая...
means roughly Although pumpkin is sweet... or Even though pumpkin is sweet...

This is a fairly literary or stylistically marked way to introduce a contrast. In everyday speech, learners more often first meet хотя for although, but пусть is also very common in this concessive meaning.

The pattern пусть ... и ... is a common Russian structure meaning even though / although ... still ...

So in:

Пусть тыква и сладкая, мне всё равно больше нравится черешня.

the и helps reinforce the concessive contrast. It does not mean plain and here.

You can think of the structure as:

• Пусть X и Y, ...
• Granted that X is Y, ...
• Even though X is Y, ...

Examples:

• Пусть он и молодой, но очень опытный.
  Even though he is young, he is very experienced.

• Пусть это и трудно, мы попробуем.
  Although it is difficult, we will try.

So и is part of the pattern, not a separate coordinating and.

Because it agrees with тыква, which is a feminine singular noun.

Russian adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• тыква = feminine singular nominative
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative
• therefore: сладкая

Compare:

• сладкий чай — sweet tea
• сладкое яблоко — sweet apple
• сладкая тыква — sweet pumpkin
• сладкие ягоды — sweet berries

Because тыква is the subject of the clause тыква сладкая.

The underlying statement is simply:

Тыква сладкая.
Pumpkin is sweet.

In Russian, the subject of a clause is normally in the nominative case, so тыква stays nominative here.

Even though the full sentence starts with пусть, that does not change the case of тыква.

Because the verb нравиться works differently from English to like.

Russian expresses this idea more like:

• Something is pleasing to me

So the person who experiences the liking goes in the dative case:

• мне нравится черешня = I like cherries / cherries please me

Breakdown:

• мне = to me
• нравится = is pleasing / appeals
• черешня = sweet cherry

This is why you say:

• мне нравится
• тебе нравится
• ему нравится

not:

• я нравится
• ты нравишься (unless you mean you are pleasing / attractive, which is a different use)

Because the grammatical subject is черешня, which is singular.

With нравиться, the verb agrees with the thing being liked, not with the person who likes it.

Here:

• черешня = singular
• so: нравится

Compare:

• Мне нравится черешня.
  I like sweet cherries.
  (singular noun)

• Мне нравятся ягоды.
  I like berries.
  (plural noun)

Even though English often uses plural wording like I like cherries, Russian here uses the singular mass/generic noun черешня, so the verb is singular too.

Всё равно here means something like:

• all the same
• anyway
• still
• regardless

It emphasizes that the previous fact does not change the speaker’s preference.

So:

Пусть тыква и сладкая, мне всё равно больше нравится черешня.

means:

Even though pumpkin is sweet, I still like sweet cherries better.

Without всё равно, the sentence would still make sense, but всё равно adds the feeling of:

• that may be true, but it doesn’t change my opinion

Examples:

• Он прав, но мне всё равно это не нравится.
  He is right, but I still don’t like it.

• Погода плохая, но мы всё равно пойдём.
  The weather is bad, but we’ll go anyway.

Больше нравится means like more or prefer.

Literally:

• нравится = is pleasing
• больше = more

So:

мне больше нравится черешня
= I like sweet cherries more
= I prefer sweet cherries

In this sentence, the comparison is understood from context: the speaker prefers черешня over тыква.

Russian often uses больше нравится where English might naturally use prefer.

Compare:

• Мне больше нравится чай.
  I prefer tea.

• Мне больше нравится этот вариант.
  I like this option better.

Not exactly.

Russian distinguishes between two common kinds of cherry:

• черешня = sweet cherry
• вишня = sour cherry / tart cherry

So черешня is specifically the sweet kind.

This matters because the sentence contrasts sweet pumpkin with черешня, and for a Russian speaker черешня already suggests a particular fruit, not just a generic cherry.

In English translations, this may appear simply as cherries, but the Russian word is more specific.

Because the sentence has two clauses:

1. Пусть тыква и сладкая
2. мне всё равно больше нравится черешня

The first clause sets up a concession (although pumpkin is sweet), and the second gives the main point (I still like sweet cherries better).

Russian normally separates such clauses with a comma, so the comma here is required.

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

Хотя тыква и сладкая, мне всё равно больше нравится черешня.

This means nearly the same thing: Although pumpkin is sweet, I still like sweet cherries better.

The difference is mostly stylistic:

• хотя is often the most straightforward way to say although
• пусть ... и ... can sound a bit more emphatic, concessive, or stylistically expressive

Another possible variant is:

Хоть тыква и сладкая, мне всё равно больше нравится черешня.

Here хоть is more colloquial than хотя.

No, Russian word order is flexible, but changing it changes the emphasis.

The given sentence:

Пусть тыква и сладкая, мне всё равно больше нравится черешня.

sounds natural and balanced.

You could also say:

• Мне всё равно больше нравится черешня, пусть тыква и сладкая.
• Черешня мне всё равно нравится больше, пусть тыква и сладкая.

These are understandable, but the emphasis shifts:

• putting черешня earlier highlights the fruit
• putting всё равно earlier highlights the idea of still / anyway
• keeping пусть тыква и сладкая first makes the contrast clearer from the start

For learners, the original order is a good model.

Here it specifically implies a comparison, and the comparison is understood to be with тыква.

So the sense is:

• Even though pumpkin is sweet, I like sweet cherries more than pumpkin.

The sentence is not just saying I really like sweet cherries. The word больше signals more, so there is an implied comparison.

Russian often leaves the second item of comparison unstated when it is obvious from context.

If you wanted to make it fully explicit, you could say:

...мне черешня нравится больше, чем тыква.
...I like sweet cherries more than pumpkin.