Моя подруга сказала, что ватрушка в этой булочной вкуснее, чем дома.

Because подруга is a feminine noun, so the possessive pronoun must also be feminine.

• мой = my (masculine)
• моя = my (feminine)
• моё = my (neuter)
• мои = my (plural)

Since подруга means female friend, you say моя подруга.

Compare:

• мой друг = my male friend
• моя подруга = my female friend

They both refer to a friend, but the gender is different:

• друг = male friend
• подруга = female friend

For a native English speaker, this can feel unusual because English friend does not show gender. Russian often does.

Also, in real usage, подруга can sometimes sound a bit closer or more personal than just a neutral friend, depending on context, but its basic meaning is simply female friend.

Russian past-tense verbs agree with gender and number.

• сказал = said (masculine speaker/subject)
• сказала = said (feminine speaker/subject)
• сказало = said (neuter)
• сказали = said (plural)

The subject here is моя подруга, which is feminine, so the verb must be сказала.

So:

• Мой друг сказал... = My male friend said...
• Моя подруга сказала... = My female friend said...

Because что introduces a subordinate clause.

The sentence has two parts:

1. Моя подруга сказала = My friend said
2. что ватрушка в этой булочной вкуснее, чем дома = that the vatrushka in this bakery is tastier than at home

In Russian, subordinate clauses introduced by что are normally separated by a comma.

This is very similar to English:

• My friend said that ...

Russian punctuation is often stricter than English here, so the comma is required.

Here что means that and introduces reported speech or a statement.

So:

• Моя подруга сказала, что... = My friend said that...

Be careful: что can mean different things in other contexts, such as what, but here it is clearly the conjunction that.

Ватрушка is a specific kind of pastry, usually a round baked bun with a filling in the middle, often sweetened cottage cheese.

It is a cultural vocabulary item, so there is not always a perfect one-word English equivalent. In learner translations, you might see things like:

• vatrushka (left untranslated)
• cheese pastry
• sweet bun with cottage cheese

So grammatically it is just a normal feminine noun:

• ватрушка = a vatrushka

Because it is the subject of the subordinate clause, so it is in the nominative case.

In the clause:

• ватрушка ... вкуснее = the vatrushka is tastier

the pastry is the thing being described, so nominative is used.

If it were a direct object, the form might change depending on the case, but here it is simply the subject.

Because after в when it means in, Russian usually uses the prepositional case.

• эта булочная = this bakery
• в этой булочной = in this bakery

Both words change:

• эта → этой
• булочная → булочной

This is feminine singular prepositional.

So the pattern is:

• в этом магазине = in this store
• в этой булочной = in this bakery
• в этой школе = in this school

Because historically it is related to an adjective, but in modern Russian it commonly functions as a noun meaning bakery or bread shop.

This happens fairly often in Russian: a word that looks adjective-like can be used as a noun.

So in this sentence:

• в этой булочной = in this bakery

You do not need to think of an omitted noun every time. For learners, it is easiest to treat булочная as a normal noun meaning bakery.

Вкуснее is the comparative form of вкусный = tasty.

So:

• вкусный = tasty
• вкуснее = tastier

Russian often forms comparatives with endings like -ее or -ей.

Examples:

• быстрый → быстрее = faster
• интересный → интереснее = more interesting
• вкусный → вкуснее = tastier

In this sentence:

• ватрушка ... вкуснее = the vatrushka is tastier

Russian comparatives are often shorter and simpler than English ones because you do not need a separate word like more.

Yes, but вкуснее is the more natural and common choice here.

Russian has two main ways to make a comparative:

1. simple comparative: вкуснее = tastier
2. compound comparative: более вкусная = more tasty

In everyday speech, the simple comparative is usually preferred when it exists.

Also, after ватрушка, you would normally say:

• ватрушка вкуснее

not:

• ватрушка более вкусная

The second is possible in some contexts, but it sounds heavier and less natural here.

Because чем is the standard word used after a comparative to mean than.

So:

• вкуснее, чем дома = tastier than at home

This is the normal pattern:

• лучше, чем... = better than...
• быстрее, чем... = faster than...
• вкуснее, чем... = tastier than...

The part after чем is often shortened if the meaning is obvious. Here the full idea is something like:

• tastier than the one we have/make at home

Russian does not need to repeat all of that.

Because дома here is an adverb meaning at home.

This is a very common expression:

• Я дома. = I am at home.
• Мы были дома. = We were at home.

By contrast:

• в доме means in the house/building

So the meanings are different:

• дома = at home
• в доме = in the house

In your sentence, чем дома means than at home, not literally than in the house.

No. Here it is the adverb дома = at home.

Russian does have forms of дом, and some of them can look similar, so learners can get confused. But in this sentence, the meaning and structure make it clear that дома is the adverb.

You can think of it as a fixed common word:

• дома = at home

The sentence is slightly elliptical, which is very normal in Russian.

The full idea is something like:

• The vatrushka in this bakery is tastier than the vatrushka at home
• or: tastier than what we have at home
• or: tastier than homemade ones

Russian often leaves repeated words out when they are obvious from context.

So чем дома does not literally mean only than at home in isolation; it means than the corresponding thing at home.

No. In present-tense sentences, Russian usually does not use a verb meaning is.

So:

• ватрушка вкуснее literally looks like the vatrushka tastier
• but it means the vatrushka is tastier

This is completely normal Russian.

Compare:

• Он дома. = He is at home.
• Она умная. = She is smart.
• Булочка свежая. = The bun is fresh.

There is no present-tense to be in ordinary sentences like these.

Because Russian, like English, can keep the original time reference of the statement.

• Моя подруга сказала... = My friend said...
• ватрушка ... вкуснее = the vatrushka is tastier

This means that at the time of speaking about the bakery, the statement is being presented as generally true or currently true.

English does the same very often:

• My friend said that this pastry is tastier than at home.

You could also see past forms in some contexts, but the present is natural here.

No, Russian word order is flexible, though the original version is very natural.

Original:

• Моя подруга сказала, что ватрушка в этой булочной вкуснее, чем дома.

This is neutral and clear.

You could move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Моя подруга сказала, что в этой булочной ватрушка вкуснее, чем дома.

This puts slightly more focus on in this bakery.

Russian word order often reflects emphasis, topic, and style more than strict grammatical necessity. But for a learner, the original order is a good default.

Usually it means at home in a general sense, and the exact owner of the home is understood from context.

So чем дома could imply:

• than at our home
• than at her home
• than at home in general

In many real situations, listeners infer the intended meaning from context. If a speaker wants to be more specific, they could say:

• чем у нас дома = than at our home
• чем у неё дома = than at her home

But the shorter чем дома is perfectly natural when the reference is obvious enough.