Breakdown of Мама готовит картошку с мясом.
мама
mom
готовить
to cook
мясо
meat
картошка
potatoes (everyday word)
Questions & Answers about Мама готовит картошку с мясом.
The English translation says "potatoes" (plural), so why is картошку in the singular form here?
In everyday Russian, картошка is treated as an uncountable mass noun, much like "rice" or "pasta" in English. Even though mum is cooking multiple potatoes, you use the singular form. To use it as a direct object here, the feminine singular картошка changes to the Accusative case картошку.
I've also seen the word картофель for potato. Could I use that here instead?
Yes, you could say готовит картофель, but картофель sounds a bit more formal, like something you would read in an agricultural textbook, a recipe book, or on a fancy restaurant menu. In everyday conversation at home, Russians almost always use the casual word картошка.
Why does мясо (meat) change to мясом?
Because of the preposition с (meaning "with" or "along with"). This preposition forces the following noun into the Instrumental case. For a neuter noun like мясо, the Instrumental ending is -ом, turning it into с мясом.
What is the infinitive of готовит, and are there any tricky spellings to remember?
The infinitive is готовить (to cook/prepare). It is a regular "-ить" verb, but remember that for the "I" form (first-person singular), you must add an extra л to make it easier to pronounce: я готовлю (I am cooking). The other forms, like она готовит (she is cooking), do not get this extra letter.