В отсутствие геодезического прибора погрешность измерения не проверили.

В отсутствие is a set expression meaning in the absence of or when there is no ... available.

So:

• в отсутствие геодезического прибора = in the absence of a geodetic/surveying instrument

This is a fairly formal, written style expression. You will often see it in technical, academic, or official language.

A simpler everyday equivalent is often без + Genitive:

• без геодезического прибора = without a geodetic instrument

But в отсутствие sounds more formal and abstract than без.

Because в отсутствие requires the genitive case.

The base form is:

• геодезический прибор = a geodetic/surveying instrument

In the genitive singular, it becomes:

• геодезического прибора

Both words change because the adjective must agree with the noun in case, number, and gender:

• геодезический → геодезического
• прибор → прибора

So the whole phrase is in the genitive because it depends on в отсутствие.

Yes, in this meaning it normally takes the genitive.

Examples:

• в отсутствие врача = in the absence of the doctor
• в отсутствие доказательств = in the absence of evidence
• в отсутствие прибора = in the absence of the instrument

This can be confusing because в often takes the accusative or prepositional in other contexts, but here в отсутствие functions as a fixed expression, and the following noun goes in the genitive.

Yes, you could, and the meaning would be very similar:

• Без геодезического прибора погрешность измерения не проверили.

That sounds more straightforward and a little less formal.

A rough comparison:

• без = plain without
• в отсутствие = more formal in the absence of

In technical writing, в отсутствие is very natural.

This is a noun phrase where the second noun is in the genitive:

• погрешность = error, margin of error, inaccuracy
• измерения = of measurement / measurement’s

So:

• погрешность измерения = the measurement error / the error of the measurement

This is a very common Russian pattern:

• результат эксперимента = the result of the experiment
• скорость движения = speed of movement
• погрешность измерения = measurement error

In English, we often use noun + noun, but Russian commonly uses a head noun plus a genitive noun.

Because it depends on погрешность.

Russian often expresses relationships like X of Y with the genitive case. Here the idea is:

• the error of the measurement

So:

• измерение → nominative singular
• измерения → genitive singular

This does not mean plural here. It is singular genitive.

That is important, because измерения can also be:

• genitive singular of измерение
• nominative plural of измерение

In this sentence, it is clearly genitive singular because it depends on погрешность.

This is a very common Russian pattern: 3rd person plural with no stated subject.

• не проверили literally looks like they did not check
• but in many contexts it means something like:
  • they didn’t check it
  • it was not checked
  • people failed to check it

Russian often uses this structure when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or deliberately left unnamed.

So the sentence does not necessarily mean that a specific group of people is being emphasized. It is more like an indefinite-personal construction.

Both are possible, but they feel a little different.

не проверили

• active form
• indefinite-personal: they didn’t check it
• very natural in Russian
• often sounds lighter and less bureaucratic than the passive

не была проверена

• passive: was not checked
• more formal and sometimes heavier in style
• focuses more directly on the thing affected

Russian often prefers an active-style construction where English might prefer a passive.

So:

• Погрешность измерения не проверили = natural Russian
• Погрешность измерения не была проверена = also correct, but more formal/passive

This is about aspect.

• проверили = perfective
• проверяли = imperfective

проверили

This presents the action as a completed whole, or in this case, as an event that did not happen:

• they did not check
• the check was not carried out

проверяли

This would suggest an ongoing, repeated, or process-oriented action:

• they were not checking
• they did not use to check
• sometimes they tried checking / were engaged in checking, depending on context

In this sentence, the idea is that the verification was simply not performed, so не проверили is the natural choice.

Grammatically, there is no explicitly stated subject.

The phrase погрешность измерения is the direct object, not the subject.

You can tell because:

• the verb is проверили = plural past
• if погрешность were the subject, the verb would have to agree with it differently
• also, проверить is transitive: someone checks something

So the structure is basically:

• [In the absence of the instrument], [they] did not check [the measurement error].

The they is left unspecified.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, although different orders can shift emphasis.

The given sentence:

• В отсутствие геодезического прибора погрешность измерения не проверили.

This is a neutral, formal order: first the condition/circumstance, then the main information.

Other possible orders include:

• Погрешность измерения не проверили в отсутствие геодезического прибора.
• Не проверили погрешность измерения в отсутствие геодезического прибора.

These are grammatically possible, but the original order is especially natural in written technical style because it sets up the circumstance first.

Геодезический means geodetic or related to surveying/geodesy.

So геодезический прибор means a surveying instrument or geodetic instrument.

In more natural English, depending on context, this might be translated as:

• surveying instrument
• geodetic instrument
• surveying device

Russian technical language often uses adjective + noun combinations like this very directly.

Yes, definitely.

Several things make it sound formal/technical:

• в отсутствие instead of the simpler без
• геодезический прибор
• погрешность измерения

This sounds like something from:

• a lab report
• a technical description
• an engineering text
• a scientific or procedural document

In everyday speech, a speaker might choose simpler wording. But for technical Russian, this sentence is very natural.