Мы заказали чай, а вдобавок взяли чизкейк.

Вдобавок means in addition, on top of that, or besides.

In this sentence, it adds the idea that after ordering tea, they also got cheesecake as an extra thing:

• Мы заказали чай, а вдобавок взяли чизкейк.
• We ordered tea, and in addition we got cheesecake.

It is an adverb, so it does not change form here.

You may also see similar words and expressions such as:

• к тому же = besides / moreover
• кроме того = in addition / furthermore
• ещё = also / more

Вдобавок often has a slightly natural, conversational feeling of as an extra or on top of that.

In Russian, а does not always mean a strong but. It can also connect two related ideas while lightly contrasting or separating them.

Here:

• Мы заказали чай, а вдобавок взяли чизкейк.

The speaker is presenting two actions:

1. they ordered tea
2. they also got cheesecake

Using а makes the second part feel like an added, slightly separate step: and additionally / and on top of that.

If you used и, the sentence would also be possible in many contexts:

• Мы заказали чай и вдобавок взяли чизкейк.

That sounds a bit more like simple addition.
With а, the sentence has a natural spoken flow: we ordered tea, and then besides that, we got cheesecake too.

So here а is not a strict but; it is more like a linking word with a mild contrast or shift.

Because they express two slightly different actions.

• заказали = ordered
• взяли = literally took, but in many everyday situations it means got, had, or chose

So:

• заказать чай = to order tea
• взять чизкейк = to take/get/have a cheesecake

In Russian, взять is very common when talking about choosing food or drink, especially in cafés, restaurants, or shops.

Examples:

• Я взял кофе. = I got coffee.
• Она взяла салат. = She had/chose a salad.

So the sentence sounds natural because tea is something they ordered, while cheesecake is presented as an additional item they decided to take.

Заказали is:

• past tense
• plural
• perfective
• from the verb заказать = to order

Why plural? Because the subject is мы = we.

Russian past tense agrees with the subject in gender/number:

• я заказал = I ordered (masculine speaker)
• я заказала = I ordered (feminine speaker)
• мы заказали = we ordered

The perfective aspect is important too. Заказать focuses on the completed action: the order was made.

Взяли is:

• past tense
• plural
• perfective
• from взять = to take

Again, it is plural because of мы.

Its aspect is perfective, so it presents the action as completed: they did in fact get or take the cheesecake.

Compare:

• брали = were taking / used to take / took repeatedly or as process
• взяли = took / got, as a completed event

In this sentence, perfective is the natural choice because the speaker is reporting completed actions.

They are in the accusative case, because they are the direct objects of the verbs:

• заказали что? → чай
• взяли что? → чизкейк

However, both nouns are inanimate masculine singular, and for that noun type, the accusative form is the same as the nominative form.

So:

• чай = nominative
• чай = accusative

and

• чизкейк = nominative
• чизкейк = accusative

That is why there is no visible change.

Russian has no articles.

So чай can mean:

• tea
• a tea
• the tea

and чизкейк can mean:

• cheesecake
• a cheesecake
• the cheesecake

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses tea and cheesecake, but Russian does not need separate words like a or the.

Yes. Чизкейк is a common borrowed word in modern Russian, especially in cafés, restaurants, and menus.

It comes from English cheesecake, but it behaves like a regular masculine Russian noun ending in a consonant.

For example:

• чизкейк
• чизкейка
• чизкейку
• чизкейк
• чизкейком
• о чизкейке

In your sentence, it appears as чизкейк because the accusative singular of an inanimate masculine noun matches the nominative.

Yes, very often.

Russian often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

So you could say:

• Заказали чай, а вдобавок взяли чизкейк.

That can still mean We ordered tea and also got cheesecake, especially if the context already makes it clear who we are.

However, мы is included here for clarity or emphasis. It is perfectly natural.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order, although changes in order often change emphasis.

The original:

• Мы заказали чай, а вдобавок взяли чизкейк.

This is a neutral, natural order.

Other possible orders:

• Мы заказали чай, а чизкейк взяли вдобавок.

  • This emphasizes чизкейк a bit more.

• Вдобавок мы взяли чизкейк.

  • This puts stronger focus on the idea of in addition.

• Чизкейк мы взяли вдобавок.

  • This strongly highlights cheesecake.

So the meaning stays similar, but the information focus shifts.

The comma separates two coordinated parts of the sentence connected by а:

• Мы заказали чай, а вдобавок взяли чизкейк.

Russian normally uses a comma before а when it joins two clauses or clause-like parts.

So the comma here is standard punctuation.

Yes, very close.

Compare:

• а вдобавок взяли чизкейк
• а ещё взяли чизкейк

Both mean that cheesecake was an additional item.

The difference is mostly stylistic:

• ещё is very common and neutral
• вдобавок feels a bit more like on top of that / as an extra

So вдобавок gives a slightly stronger sense of addition.

Because the sentence describes completed actions in a specific situation.

• заказали = they finished ordering
• взяли = they ended up taking/getting

If the speaker were describing a process, repeated behavior, or background action, imperfective forms might be used instead:

• Мы заказывали чай...
• ...и брали чизкейк.

That could suggest something habitual or less focused on the completed result.

But in your sentence, the point is simply what they did, as finished events. That is why perfective verbs are the natural choice.