Он стоял у борта корабля.

Стоял is the past tense masculine singular form of стоять, which means to stand.

So:

• стоять = to stand
• стоял = stood / was standing (he stood, he was standing)

Russian past tense agrees with gender and number:

• он стоял = he was standing
• она стояла = she was standing
• оно стояло = it was standing
• они стояли = they were standing

In this sentence, он is masculine, so стоял is masculine too.

У is a preposition that often means by, near, or at.

In у борта корабля, it gives the idea of being next to or by the ship’s side.

So он стоял у борта корабля means something like:

• he was standing by the side of the ship
• he was standing near the ship’s side

A very important grammar point: у requires the genitive case.

Because у takes the genitive case, and борт changes to борта in the genitive singular.

• nominative: борт = side / board / flank
• genitive: борта

So:

• у борта = by the side

This is a normal case change after the preposition у.

Because корабля is also in the genitive singular.

Here, борт корабля means the side of the ship. In Russian, one noun often modifies another by putting the second noun into the genitive:

• борт корабля = the ship’s side / side of the ship
• крыша дома = the roof of the house
• дверь комнаты = the door of the room

So:

• борт = side
• корабля = of the ship

Then the whole phrase becomes:

• у борта корабля = by the side of the ship

Борт is a word often used for the side of a vehicle or vessel, especially a ship, boat, or aircraft.

With a ship, борт usually means the side of the ship, not just any wall-like surface.

Common related expressions:

• на борту = on board
• левый борт = port side / left side
• правый борт = starboard / right side

So in this sentence, у борта корабля suggests standing by the ship’s side, likely near the edge or railing.

By itself, the phrase can be understood literally as by the ship’s side, so context matters.

However, in many situations, a native speaker will picture someone on the ship, standing near the side or railing.

Why? Because:

• борт корабля strongly suggests the side of the ship as part of the vessel
• стоять у борта often describes someone standing on deck near the edge

So the most natural mental image is usually he was on the ship, standing by its side.

You could say на борту корабля, but it means something different.

• у борта корабля = by the ship’s side
• на борту корабля = on board the ship

So:

• Он стоял у борта корабля focuses on where exactly he was standing: near the side.
• Он стоял на борту корабля only says he was aboard the ship, without emphasizing that he was by the edge.

In many contexts, у борта is more precise.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order here is:

• Он стоял у борта корабля.

But other orders are possible, depending on emphasis:

• У борта корабля он стоял.
• Он у борта корабля стоял.

These all describe the same basic situation, but the emphasis changes slightly.

The original version sounds natural and neutral: first the subject, then the verb, then the location.

Yes, Russian can often omit subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context.

So in the right context, you could simply say:

• Стоял у борта корабля.

That might mean:

• He was standing by the ship’s side
• or Someone was standing by the ship’s side, depending on context and style

But including он makes the subject explicit. It is useful when:

• you are introducing or contrasting the person
• you want clarity
• the sentence stands alone

Because Russian past tense does not force the same distinction that English often makes between:

• he stood
• he was standing

The verb стоять is imperfective, so in many contexts стоял describes a state or ongoing situation:

• Он стоял у борта корабля = he was standing by the ship’s side

But in some contexts, English may also use stood:

• He stood by the ship’s side

So the best English translation depends on style and context, not just grammar.

The main stresses are:

• Он стоЯл у бОрта кораблЯ.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Он ≈ on
• стоял ≈ sta-YAL
• у ≈ oo
• борта ≈ BOR-ta
• корабля ≈ ka-rab-LYA

Stress is very important in Russian, because it is not always predictable and unstressed vowels often sound weaker.

Yes, sometimes, but the feel changes a bit.

• у борта корабля = by the ship’s side
• около борта корабля = near the ship’s side
• возле борта корабля = near/by the ship’s side

У is very common and compact. It often sounds especially natural when talking about being right by something.

So Он стоял у борта корабля is a very natural choice if you mean he was standing right by the side of the ship.