Learn Hardcore Russian: Ночью в парке тихо, только музыку слышно. - At night it is quiet in the park; only the music can be heard.

Ночью = “at night” (general time when something happens)
This pattern is very common with times of day:
- утром – in the morning
- днём – in the daytime
- вечером – in the evening
- ночью – at night

You generally do not say в ночь in this meaning. В ночь is possible, but it’s more specific or poetic, like “into the night” (direction, not just “at night” in general).

What case is в парке, and why is it в парке and not в парк?

В парке is in the prepositional case.

In Russian, with в:

Location (where?) → prepositional:
- в парке – in the park (location)
- в доме – in the house
Direction (where to?) → accusative:
- в парк – to the park (movement towards)
- в дом – into the house

In your sentence, we’re describing the situation in the park (no movement), so Russian uses в парке (prepositional).

Why is there no verb “to be” (like есть) before тихо?

In the present tense, Russian normally drops the verb “to be” (есть) in sentences like this.

So instead of:

Ночью в парке есть тихо. ❌

Russian simply says:

Ночью в парке тихо. ✅
Literally: “At night in-the-park quiet(ly).”

This zero-copula is standard in the present. In the past or future, the verb appears:

Ночью в парке было тихо. – It was quiet in the park at night.
Ночью в парке будет тихо. – It will be quiet in the park at night.

What exactly is тихо here – an adjective or an adverb? Why not тихий?

Тихо is an adverb / predicative form, often called a “category of state” in Russian grammar. It’s used to describe a general state of things: “it is quiet.”

Ночью в парке тихо. – It’s quiet in the park at night.

You do not say:

Ночью в парке тихий. ❌ (wrong in this meaning)

Compare:

тихий парк – a quiet park (adjective, describing the park)
в парке тихо – it is quiet in the park (predicative adverb/state)

Similar words used this way:

здесь холодно – it’s cold here
там темно – it’s dark there
ему грустно – he is sad

What is слышно, grammatically, and how is it different from слышать?

Слышно is an impersonal predicative form (historically a short passive participle from слышать), used like “is audible / can be heard”.

музыку слышно – music is audible / you can hear music

Key points:

слышно is impersonal: there is no subject like “I/you/he”.
It describes what can be heard in general:
- Слышно шум. – Noise can be heard.
- Слышно, как кто-то говорит. – You can hear someone talking.

By contrast, слышать is the normal verb “to hear”:

Я слышу музыку. – I hear music.
Мы слышали шум. – We heard noise.

Why is it музыку (accusative) after слышно?

In the construction что-то слышно, the thing that is heard is usually in the accusative case:

Музыку слышно. – You can hear (the) music.
Шум машин слышно. – You can hear the noise of cars.

This accusative behaves a bit like the direct object of an “understood” verb (слышать):

(One can) слышать музыку → музыку слышно.

With negation, Russian often switches to genitive:

Музыку не слышно. – You can’t hear the music. (accusative, also heard)
Музыки не слышно. – No music can be heard. (genitive, emphasizes “there is none at all”)

Could we say музыка слышна instead of музыку слышно? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both, but they are slightly different structures:

Музыку слышно.
- музыку – accusative
- слышно – impersonal predicate
  Meaning: You can hear music; music is audible.
  Focus is on the fact of hearing something.
Музыка слышна.
- музыка – nominative (subject)
- слышна – short-form adjective (from слышный, “audible”)
  Meaning: The music is audible.
  A bit more “bookish” or descriptive; the music is grammatically the subject.

In everyday speech, музыку слышно is more common and neutral. Музыка слышна sounds a bit more formal or literary.

What does только do in только музыку слышно? Could it go in another position?

Только means “only” and limits what is being heard:

только музыку слышно – only the music can be heard (nothing else).

Possible variants and nuances:

Только музыку слышно. – Neutral: only music is audible.
Слышно только музыку. – Similar meaning, but focuses a bit more on “what is heard” (музыку) at the end.
Только слышно музыку. – Possible, but less natural; sounds like you are emphasizing “there is only hearing of music” (rather unusual).

You cannot move только far away without changing what is limited:

Только ночью в парке тихо. – It is only at night that it’s quiet in the park.
Ночью в парке только тихо. – Sounds odd; doesn’t really work.

In your sentence, только clearly limits музыку: only the music (and nothing else) is heard.

Why is there a comma before только музыку слышно?

The sentence has two parts that share the same subject/time setting:

Ночью в парке тихо – It’s quiet in the park at night.
(Ночью в парке) только музыку слышно – (At night in the park) only the music can be heard.

They are coordinated without a conjunction (like и “and”), so Russian uses a comma to separate them:

Ночью в парке тихо, только музыку слышно.

You could also say:

Ночью в парке тихо, и только музыку слышно. – adding и makes the link more explicit.

But even without и, the comma is still needed because you have two independent predicates: тихо and слышно.

Can the word order be changed, for example to В парке ночью тихо, слышно только музыку? Is that still correct, and what changes?

Word order in Russian is flexible, so several variants are grammatically correct, but the focus changes.

Your original:

Ночью в парке тихо, только музыку слышно.
Slight focus on ночью (when) and on музыку (what is heard).

Other options:

В парке ночью тихо, только музыку слышно.
Now в парке is slightly more foregrounded (where), but still natural.
Ночью в парке тихо, слышно только музыку.
Same meaning; a bit more emphasis on музыку at the very end.
Ночью в парке только музыку слышно, тихо.
Feels stylistically odd; the rhythm is worse.

All of these (except very strange rearrangements) are understandable. The original word order is natural and balanced: it sets the time & place first, then describes the state (quiet) and the only sound (music).