Внутри дома тихо.

the house

Breakdown of Внутри дома тихо.

• тихо: quiet
• внутри: inside

Questions & Answers about Внутри дома тихо.

What part of speech are the words внутри, дома and тихо in this sentence?

• внутри – a preposition indicating static location (it takes the genitive case).
• дома – the noun дом in the genitive singular, governed by внутри.
• тихо – an indeclinable predicative adverb (it coincides in form with the neuter short-form of тихий, but here functions like “is quiet”).

Why is there no verb есть (to be) in the Russian sentence, while in English we say “it is quiet”?

In Russian simple present-tense statements, the copula есть is usually omitted. You just state the predicate (тихо), and native speakers understand “it is quiet.” Adding есть (“Внутри дома есть тихо”) would sound awkward or overly emphatic.

Why is дом in the form дома? How do I know it’s genitive singular and not nominative plural?

The preposition внутри requires the genitive case, so дом becomes дома. Although дома can also look like the plural nominative (“houses”) or the adverb “at home,” the presence of внутри tells you it’s singular genitive. If you meant plural, you’d say внутри домов.

What grammatical function does тихо serve here? Is it an adverb or a short-form adjective?