Лифт идёт наверх.

In Russian, идти does not only mean to walk. It can also mean to go / to move in a more general sense. With machines or things in motion, Russian often uses идти in ways that English would not.

So Лифт идёт наверх means the elevator is going up or is moving upward, not that it is walking.

A similar idea appears in phrases like Часы идут = The clock is running.

This is the classic идти vs. ходить distinction.

• идти = motion in one direction, or a movement happening right now
• ходить = repeated, habitual, or back-and-forth motion

So in Лифт идёт наверх, the elevator is making one upward trip right now.

If you were talking about what an elevator does in general, you might use a different wording, for example:

• Этот лифт ходит только до пятого этажа = This elevator only goes up to the fifth floor

Идёт is the 3rd person singular present tense of идти.

So the pattern is:

• я иду = I go / I am going
• ты идёшь = you go / are going
• он / она / оно идёт = he / she / it goes / is going

Since лифт is a singular noun, you use идёт.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

Russian does not have a separate form like the English progressive is going. The present tense often covers both ideas:

• Лифт идёт наверх = The elevator goes up / The elevator is going up

In this sentence, English would usually translate it as is going up, because it sounds like something happening now.

Because Russian normally omits the verb “to be” in the present tense.

So where English says:

• The elevator is going up

Russian simply says:

• Лифт идёт наверх

There is no separate present-tense is here. That is completely normal in Russian.

Наверх means up, upstairs, or to the top / upward, depending on context.

In this sentence, it means the elevator is going up.

A useful nuance:

• наверх often suggests movement to an upper place
• вверх is more purely upward as a direction

Both can work in many situations, but наверх often feels like upstairs / to the upper level.

So:

• Лифт идёт наверх = The elevator is going up
• Лифт идёт вверх = The elevator is moving upward

Here it is one word: наверх.

In this sentence, наверх is an adverb, so it is written as a single word.

Writing на верх would usually mean something different, more like onto the top or onto the upper part, where верх is treated as a noun. That is not what is happening here.

So for up / upstairs in this sentence, use наверх.

The stress is:

• лифт — one syllable
• идёт — stress on ё
• наверх — stress on the last syllable: наверх

A rough pronunciation guide:

• lift ee-DYOT na-VYERKH

A few pronunciation notes:

• ё is always stressed and sounds like yo
• идёт is pronounced with that clear stressed ё
• the final х in наверх is the Russian kh sound, not an English h

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but the neutral, most standard order here is:

• Лифт идёт наверх

That simply states the fact.

If you change the order, you may change the emphasis. For example:

• Наверх идёт лифт can sound more marked, with extra focus on up
• Идёт лифт наверх? could be interpreted as a question, depending on intonation

So for a basic statement, Лифт идёт наверх is the best default.

Лифт is a masculine, inanimate noun.

Its dictionary form is лифт. It declines like a regular masculine noun:

• лифт
• лифта
• лифту
• лифт
• лифтом
• лифте

One useful detail: in the present tense, the verb does not show gender, only person and number. So идёт is the same form whether the subject is masculine, feminine, or neuter:

• лифт идёт
• машина идёт
• время идёт

Gender becomes more visible in the past tense, for example:

• Лифт шёл наверх = The elevator was going up

Yes. Russian has several natural ways to express this idea.

For example:

• Лифт идёт наверх = The elevator is going up
• Лифт поднимается = The elevator is rising / going up
• Лифт едет вверх = The elevator is going up

These are close in meaning, but the wording is slightly different. In your sentence, идёт наверх is a normal way to describe the elevator’s movement upward.