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Questions & Answers about Мама любит порядок.
Why does порядок stay the same here instead of taking an accusative ending?
It actually is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of любит. However, for masculine inanimate nouns (things and concepts, not living beings), the accusative form looks exactly the same as the dictionary (nominative) form. If she liked a person, like брат (brother), it would change to брата.
How do we know whether любит means likes or loves?
The verb любить covers both meanings. The translation usually depends on the object. With everyday things, activities, or concepts like порядок (order), it translates best to likes or is fond of. With people or pets, it usually means loves.
Since we are learning the prepositional plural (-ах / -ях), how would порядок change if we wanted to talk about orders?
To put порядок into the prepositional plural, two things happen. First, the final -о- drops out because it is a fleeting vowel, leaving the stem порядк-. Then, since it ends in a hard consonant, we add the standard hard ending -ах to make о порядках (about orders).
Could we change the word order to Порядок любит мама?
Yes, Russian word order is very flexible. Because мама is clearly the subject (feminine nominative) and порядок is the object, the basic meaning stays exactly the same. Putting порядок first would just emphasize it, as if saying: As for order, Mum is the one who likes it.