Learn Hardcore Russian: Высокий дом стоит на этой улице.

It is the subject of the verb стоит (who/what is standing? the house).
The basic dictionary form of a noun is nominative singular, and дом appears in exactly that form.
The verb agrees with it in number (singular: стоит, not стоят).

So: subject → nominative → дом.

Why is the verb стоит used here instead of есть or just nothing?

Russian often uses verbs of position to describe where objects are located:

стоять / стоит – to stand / is standing
лежать / лежит – to lie / is lying
находиться / находится – to be located

In this sentence стоит is used in a slightly figurative sense: a building “stands” somewhere, so высокий дом стоит means “the tall building stands / is located”.

Using есть here (Высокий дом есть на этой улице) is unnatural. In modern Russian, есть is usually omitted or used mainly in existential sentences like На этой улице есть высокий дом (“there is a tall house on this street”), which has a different emphasis (existence, not just location).

What exactly does стоит mean here: “stands” or “is”?

Literally, стоит means stands (from стоять – to stand).

In context, for buildings and many vertical objects, Russian uses стоит where English usually says “is (located)”:

Дом стоит у реки. – The house is (stands) by the river.
Магазин стоит на углу. – The shop is (stands) on the corner.

So you can understand it as “stands”, but translate it more naturally as “is located / is” when speaking English.

Why is it на этой улице and not на эта улица?

Because the preposition на with a location (where?) requires the prepositional case.

Feminine noun: улица (nominative) → улице (prepositional)
Feminine demonstrative: эта (nominative) → этой (prepositional)

So:

на этой улице = “on this street” (where?) – prepositional case
на эту улицу = “onto this street” (direction: where to?) – accusative case

The sentence describes location (where the house stands), so you need на этой улице.

How is эта changing to этой in на этой улице?

Эта is the feminine form of “this” in the nominative case. Demonstratives also decline for case.

For эта:

Nominative: эта улица – this street (subject)
Prepositional: на этой улице – on this street
Genitive/Dative/Instrumental also use этой for feminine singular.

So in на этой улице, the preposition на (with location) triggers the prepositional case, giving the form этой.

Why does улица become улице?

Улица is a feminine noun ending in -а. In the prepositional singular, this -а typically changes to -е:

улица → улице
школа → школе
комната → комнате

Since it’s used with на in a static sense (where?) and is not the subject, it goes into the prepositional case: на этой улице.

Could I say На этой улице стоит высокий дом instead? Does the word order change the meaning?

Yes, that word order is completely correct:

Высокий дом стоит на этой улице.
На этой улице стоит высокий дом.

Both are grammatical and mean the same in a neutral context. The difference is mainly in emphasis / information structure:

Starting with Высокий дом highlights the house (we’re talking about that tall house, and now we say where).
Starting with На этой улице highlights the location (we’re talking about this street, and now we say what is on it).

Russian word order is flexible; subject-verb-object is not as rigid as in English. Speakers adjust order to focus the listener’s attention.

Why doesn’t Russian use something like “there is” here, like English “There is a tall building on this street”?

Russian can express “there is” in two main ways:

With есть:
- На этой улице есть высокий дом. – There is a tall house on this street.
Without есть, using just word order and context.

In this specific sentence:

Высокий дом стоит на этой улице. focuses on a particular tall house and its location.
На этой улице есть высокий дом. focuses on the existence of such a house on that street (“there exists at least one tall house here”).

So instead of a fixed phrase like “there is”, Russian uses different structures (with or without есть, with different word orders) to convey existence or just location.

Is дом “house” or “building”? English has both words.

Дом most commonly means house / home, but its meaning is broader:

дом – house; also the building where people live
In some contexts it can be translated as building, especially if it’s clearly a residential building (apartment block, etc.).

If you want to emphasize a non-residential “building” in general, you might use здание.

So высокий дом is often “a tall house” or “a tall residential building”. If the context is clearly urban/apartment blocks, “tall building” is natural in English.

Is высокий more like “high” or “tall”?

Высокий covers both high and tall, depending on context:

высокий дом, высокий человек → usually “tall house/building, tall person”
высокая гора → “high mountain”
высокая цена, высокий уровень → “high price, high level” (metaphorical)

So context decides the best English word. Here, for a house/building, “tall” is usually the most natural translation.

What tense and aspect is стоит, and is that important here?

Стоит is:

present tense
3rd person singular
imperfective aspect (from стоять)

Here aspect is not particularly special: we are simply describing a current, ongoing state (the house is standing / located there now and generally). For stative descriptions like this, the imperfective present is the normal choice.