Ночью вселенная кажется такой тихой и далёкой, как глубокое море.

At night the universe seems so quiet and distant, like a deep sea.

Breakdown of Ночью вселенная кажется такой тихой и далёкой, как глубокое море.

• и: and
• тихий: quiet
• море: the sea
• как: like
• ночью: at night
• казаться: to seem
• такой: so
• вселенная: the universe
• далёкий: distant
• глубокий: deep

Questions & Answers about Ночью вселенная кажется такой тихой и далёкой, как глубокое море.

Why is Ночью in this form, without a preposition like в, and what does this case mean?

Ночью is the instrumental singular of ночь (feminine noun: ночь – ночью).

In Russian, the instrumental case is often used as an adverbial of time to mean “at / in [that time of day]”, especially with:

• утром / утром (from утро) – in the morning
• днём (from день) – in the daytime
• вечером (from вечер) – in the evening
• ночью (from ночь) – at night

So Ночью here means “At night” or “During the night” without needing a preposition like в.

Could I say В ночь вселенная кажется… instead of Ночью вселенная кажется…? What is the difference?

You can say в ночь, but it sounds unusual or poetic and usually needs more context (e.g. в ту ночь – on that night).

Typical, natural choices:

• Ночью вселенная кажется… – At night the universe seems… (neutral, standard)
• В ту ночь вселенная казалась… – That night the universe seemed… (specific night, more narrative)

Ночью is the default, general way to say “at night”.
В ночь without a determiner (ту, эту) feels incomplete or stylistically marked.

What is the grammatical role and form of вселенная in this sentence?

Вселенная is:

• A feminine noun (ending in -ая in nominative singular).
• In the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.
• It means “the universe”.

So structurally:

• Ночью – adverbial modifier of time (when? At night)
• вселенная – subject (what? The universe)
• кажется… – predicate (does what? seems…)

Should вселенная be capitalized (Вселенная) in Russian, the way Universe sometimes is in English?

Both are seen, but:

• вселенная (lowercase) – more common; treats it as a general noun, “the universe / the cosmos”.
• Вселенная (uppercase) – can appear in scientific, philosophical, or poetic contexts where the Universe is treated almost like a proper name or a unique entity.

In this sentence, lowercase вселенная is perfectly normal and probably the default choice. Capitalization would just make it a bit more solemn or poetic.

What does кажется literally mean, and why does it have -ся at the end?

Кажется is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb казаться.

• казаться = to seem / to appear (to be)
• The -ся (or -сь) ending is the reflexive / middle voice marker in Russian. With this verb it does not mean “to oneself”; it just forms a verb whose basic meaning is “to seem”.

So:

• он кажется усталым – he seems tired
• вселенная кажется тихой – the universe seems quiet

Here кажется connects the subject (вселенная) with a predicative description (такой тихой и далёкой).

Why are тихой and далёкой in that ending (-ой), and what case are they in?

Тихой and далёкой are:

• Feminine singular, instrumental case adjectives.
• They agree with вселенная (also feminine singular) used as a predicate complement after кажется.

Verbs like быть (to be) and казаться (to seem) often take the predicate noun or adjective in the instrumental case when describing the subject:

• Она была учительницей. – She was a teacher.
• Он кажется уставшим. – He seems tired.
• Вселенная кажется тихой и далёкой. – The universe seems quiet and distant.

So тихой / далёкой are in the instrumental because they are predicative adjectives describing вселенная via кажется.

What is the role and meaning of такой in такой тихой и далёкой? Why not just тихой и далёкой?

Такой roughly means “so / such” here.

• тихой и далёкой – quiet and distant
• такой тихой и далёкой – so quiet and distant, such a quiet and distant [thing]

It adds emotional intensity or emphasis.
Without такой, the sentence is more matter-of-fact. With такой, the speaker highlights how strikingly quiet and distant the universe seems.

Why is there a comma before как глубокое море?

Here как глубокое море is a simile/comparison meaning “like a deep sea” / “as the deep sea”.

Russian punctuation rule:

• When как introduces a full comparison in the sense “like / as” that adds an image or stylistic color (not just a simple role), it is usually separated by a comma.

So:

• Она красива, как цветок. – She is beautiful, like a flower.
• Вселенная кажется такой тихой и далёкой, как глубокое море.

If как introduces something more like a fixed role or identity, the comma may be omitted:

• Он работал как учитель. – He worked as a teacher. (no comma)

What case is глубокое море, and why isn’t it in the instrumental like тихой and далёкой?

Глубокое море is in the nominative neuter singular:

• море – neuter noun, nominative singular
• глубокое – adjective agreeing with море (neuter, nominative, singular)

In comparisons with как (“like / as”), the noun usually appears in the nominative, not instrumental:

• Он храбр, как лев. – He is brave like a lion.
• Она светла, как солнце. – She is bright like the sun.
• …далёкой, как глубокое море. – distant like the deep sea.

The instrumental морем would be used in different constructions (e.g. мы любовались морем – we admired the sea).

What is the difference between далёкой and далёкий / дальний?

Base adjective: далёкий – far, distant.

Forms here:

• далёкой – feminine singular instrumental (matching вселенная)
• далёкий – masculine / neuter nominative singular (e.g. далёкий город – a distant city)
• дальний – another adjective meaning “far / remote”, often more spatial / practical (far corner, far room, far relative).

Nuance:

• далёкий can be more poetic / abstract (distant times, distant stars, distant memory).
• дальний is more physical / concrete (far shelf, far road, distant relative).

In a poetic sentence about the universe, далёкой (from далёкий) is the natural choice.

How is далёкой pronounced, and why is it written with ё? Can it be written далекой?

Pronunciation:

• далёкой is pronounced [да-ЛЁ-кой], with stressed “yo” in the second syllable.

Spelling:

• In everyday Russian text, ё is often replaced by е, so you will often see далекой in print.
• However, the correct underlying spelling is with ё, and ё is always stressed.

So:

• далёкой = далекой in typical writing, but the stress and sound are /о/ (ё) under stress, not /e/.

Could the word order be Вселенная ночью кажется такой тихой и далёкой…? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is grammatically correct:

• Ночью вселенная кажется такой тихой и далёкой…
• Вселенная ночью кажется такой тихой и далёкой…

Both are fine. Russian word order is flexible, and moving Ночью can slightly shift the emphasis:

• Ночью вселенная… – emphasizes the time frame first (At night, the universe…).
• Вселенная ночью… – begins with “The universe”, then adds when.

Both would be natural; the original order is slightly more poetic and rhythmic.

Is there any difference in nuance between как глубокое море and something like словно глубокое море?

Both mean essentially “like a deep sea”, but:

• как – the most neutral, common word for “like / as” in comparisons.
• словно – also “as if / as though / like”, but often feels a bit more literary or poetic.

So:

• …далёкой, как глубокое море. – standard, stylistically neutral (but can be poetic in context).
• …далёкой, словно глубокое море. – slightly more poetic / literary in flavor.

Both are acceptable stylistically in a poetic sentence like this.