Стеллаж находится рядом с поддоном.

Because рядом с requires the instrumental case.

The dictionary form is поддон. After с in the expression рядом с (next to / beside), the noun has to be in the instrumental:

• поддон → поддоном

So:

• рядом с поддоном = next to the pallet

This is a very common pattern in Russian:

• рядом с домом = next to the house
• рядом с машиной = next to the car
• рядом с окном = next to the window

For masculine nouns like поддон, the instrumental singular often ends in -ом or -ем.

Because in Russian, рядом normally combines with с + instrumental when you say what something is next to.

So the full pattern is:

• рядом с кем?
• рядом с чем?

Examples:

• рядом с поддоном = next to the pallet
• рядом с дверью = next to the door
• рядом с магазином = next to the store

By itself, рядом can mean nearby, but if you name the object, you usually need с:

• Стеллаж рядом. = The rack is nearby.
• Стеллаж рядом с поддоном. = The rack is next to the pallet.

Here находится means is located, is situated, or simply is in a location.

So:

• Стеллаж находится рядом с поддоном. = The rack is located next to the pallet.

This verb is very common when describing where something is.

Grammatically, находится is the 3rd person singular present tense of находиться.

It agrees with стеллаж, which is singular:

• стеллаж находится
• if it were plural: стеллажи находятся

Yes, often you can.

Both are natural, but they feel a little different:

• Стеллаж рядом с поддоном. = The rack is next to the pallet.
• Стеллаж находится рядом с поддоном. = The rack is located next to the pallet.

Using находится can sound a bit more formal, explicit, or descriptive. In everyday speech, Russian often omits a present-tense to be idea, so the shorter version is very common.

Yes, находится is a reflexive verb form because it ends in -ся.

It comes from находиться. In many contexts, this verb means to be located.

Even though -ся originally has a reflexive function, in this kind of sentence you usually should not translate it literally as finds itself. You should just understand it as:

• находится = is located / is situated

So in practice:

• Стеллаж находится рядом с поддоном
  means The rack is located next to the pallet, not The rack finds itself...

Стеллаж usually means a rack, shelving unit, or set of shelves, especially for storage.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• warehouse shelving
• storage racks
• shelving in a store or utility space

So in a logistics or warehouse context, стеллаж is often best understood as rack or shelving unit.

Поддон often means a pallet in warehouse/logistics contexts.

It can also mean a tray or drip tray in other situations, so the exact translation depends on context.

In a sentence like this, with стеллаж, the most likely meaning is:

• поддон = pallet

Russian does not have articles like a or the.

So:

• стеллаж can mean a rack or the rack
• поддоном can mean with a pallet / next to a pallet or with the pallet / next to the pallet

The exact meaning depends on context.

That means:

• Стеллаж находится рядом с поддоном
  could be understood as
• The rack is next to the pallet, or
• A rack is next to a pallet

In many learning materials, the translation uses the because the context makes the objects specific.

The most neutral word order is:

• Стеллаж находится рядом с поддоном.

This is a straightforward subject + verb + location structure.

Russian word order is flexible, though, and you can move parts around for emphasis:

• Рядом с поддоном находится стеллаж.
  = Next to the pallet is a rack.
  This puts more focus on the location.

• Стеллаж рядом с поддоном находится.
  Grammatically possible, but less natural in ordinary speech.

So the original sentence is the safest and most neutral version.

You can tell from both the form and the meaning.

• Стеллаж is in the nominative case, which is the usual case for the subject.
• Поддоном is in the instrumental case because it follows рядом с.

Also, the verb находится is singular, matching стеллаж:

• стеллаж находится

So the structure is:

• Стеллаж = subject
• находится = verb
• рядом с поддоном = location phrase

The main stresses are:

• стеллАж
• находИтся
• рЯдом
• поддОном

So roughly:

• стеллАж находИтся рЯдом с поддОном

A rough English-style approximation would be:

• stye-LLAZH na-ha-DEET-sya RYA-dam s pad-DO-nam

A few pronunciation notes:

• ж sounds like the s in measure
• х is a throaty sound, like the ch in German Bach
• unstressed о is often pronounced closer to a

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• рядом с = next to / right beside
• около = near / close to

So:

• Стеллаж находится рядом с поддоном.
  = The rack is right next to the pallet.

• Стеллаж находится около поддона.
  = The rack is near the pallet.

Also notice the grammar difference:

• рядом с
  • instrumental
• около
  • genitive

So:

• рядом с поддоном
• около поддона

The basic preposition is с.

Russian sometimes uses со instead of с to make pronunciation easier, especially before difficult consonant clusters.

Here, с поддоном is easy enough to pronounce, so с is normal:

• рядом с поддоном

You might see со in phrases like:

• со мной = with me
• со стола = from the table

So in this sentence, с is exactly what you would expect.

You would make both the noun and the verb plural:

• Стеллажи находятся рядом с поддоном. = The racks are next to the pallet.

Changes:

• стеллаж → стеллажи
• находится → находятся

The prepositional phrase stays the same unless поддон also changes.

For example:

• Стеллажи находятся рядом с поддонами. = The racks are next to the pallets.