Learn Hardcore Russian: Я удивился, когда увидел цену билета. - I was surprised when I saw the price of the ticket.

The past masculine form of удивить (to surprise) would be удивил.
Add the reflexive -ся (which becomes -сь / -ся / -лся depending on the ending), and you get удивился.

With -ся, the meaning changes:

удивить кого-то – to surprise someone (transitive)
- Он удивил меня. – He surprised me.
удивиться чему-то – to be / become surprised (intransitive, reflexive / “middle voice”)
- Я удивился. – I was surprised / I got surprised.

So я удивился literally means “I (myself) became surprised”, which is the normal way to say “I was surprised” in Russian.

How would the sentence change if a woman is speaking?

Past tense verbs in Russian agree with the subject’s gender and number.

Я удивился, когда увидел цену билета. – said by a man (masculine singular).
Я удивилась, когда увидела цену билета. – said by a woman (feminine singular).

Changes:

удивился → удивилась (masc → fem)
увидел → увидела (masc → fem)

Everything else in the sentence stays the same.

Why are удивился and увидел in the perfective aspect, not imperfective?

Both удивиться and увидеть are perfective verbs. Perfective aspect is used for completed, one-time events:

Я удивился – I got surprised (one moment, completed reaction).
Я увидел цену – I saw the price (the act of seeing happened and is complete).

If you used the imperfective:

Я удивлялся, когда видел цену билета.

This would sound like:

“I was (repeatedly / for some time) surprised when I (kept) seeing the ticket price.”

It implies a more ongoing or repeated situation, which is not what the original sentence expresses. The original describes one specific moment of seeing the price and being surprised.

Why is there no я in когда увидел цену билета? Is that grammatical?

Yes, it’s completely grammatical and very natural.

The full version would be:

Я удивился, когда я увидел цену билета.

But in Russian, when the subject of the main clause and the subordinate clause is the same, the subject in the second clause (я) is often omitted:

Я удивился, когда увидел цену билета.

The listener automatically understands that я is still the subject of увидел.

Both versions are correct; the shorter one is just more typical in speech and writing.

Why is there a comma before когда?

In Russian, you normally put a comma before когда when it introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause of time):

Я удивился, когда увидел цену билета.

Here:

Main clause: Я удивился – I was surprised.
Subordinate time clause: когда увидел цену билета – when I saw the ticket price.

Rule of thumb:
If когда answers “when?” for the main action and has its own verb, you almost always separate that clause with a comma.

What cases are used in цену билета, and why those forms?

There are two nouns here with different cases:

цену – accusative singular of цена (price)
- Nominative: цена
- Accusative (feminine inanimate): цену
- It is the direct object of the verb увидел:
  - увидел что? – цену.
билета – genitive singular of билет (ticket)
- Nominative: билет
- Genitive: билета
- It shows possession / relation in a “noun of noun” structure:
  - цена чего? – билета (price of the ticket).

So цену билета literally means “the price of the ticket”, just like English “ticket price” or “the ticket’s price”.

Could you also say цену на билет instead of цену билета? Is there a difference?

Yes, цену на билет is also used and understood. Both are common:

цена билета – literally “the price of the ticket”
цена на билет – literally “the price on the ticket” / “price for the ticket”

Nuance:

цена билета is a bit more neutral and standard.
цена на билет often sounds more like “the price for (a) ticket”, especially with plural:
- цены на билеты выросли. – Ticket prices have gone up.

In your sentence, цену билета is slightly more natural, but цену на билет would not be wrong in everyday speech.

Can I change the word order, for example: Я удивился, когда я увидел цену билета or ...когда цену билета увидел?

Yes, several orders are possible and grammatical, with small stylistic differences:

Я удивился, когда увидел цену билета.
– Very natural, neutral.
Я удивился, когда я увидел цену билета.
– Also correct. Adding я can:
- Give a bit more emphasis to я, or
- Sound slightly more formal / explicit.
Я удивился, когда цену билета увидел.
– Also possible. Moving цену билета forward can add a slight emphasis on the price, like:
- “...when I saw the ticket price.”

Russian word order is relatively flexible, but the first version (your original) is the most typical.

How would you say “The ticket price surprised me” in Russian? Is that different from Я удивился…?

Yes, the structure changes because the subject changes:

Я удивился, когда увидел цену билета.
– I was surprised when I saw the ticket price.
(Subject: я, verb: удивился.)

To make “The ticket price surprised me”:

Меня удивила цена билета.

Here:

Subject: цена билета (the ticket price).
Verb: удивила – past feminine (agreeing with цена, which is feminine).
Object: меня – me (accusative).

Both sentences describe the same situation but from different perspectives:

Я удивился… – focuses on my reaction.
Меня удивила цена билета. – focuses on the price as the thing causing surprise.

How is the sentence pronounced, and where is the stress in each word?

Stressed syllables in bold:

Я удиви́лся, когда́ увидéл цену́ билéта.

Word by word (with main stress):

Я – ya
удиви́лся – u-di-VIL-sya
когда́ – kag-DA
увидéл – u-VI-del
цену́ – tse-NU
билéта – bi-LYE-ta

Approximate IPA:

/ja ʊdʲɪˈvʲilsʲə kɐɡˈda ʊˈvʲidel t͡sʲɪˈnu bʲɪˈlʲetə/

Knowing the stress helps because unstressed о / е / а often reduce in actual speech (e.g., когда́ sounds more like kag-DA, not ko-ɡa-DA).

Can this sentence be used in the future, like “I will be surprised when I see the ticket price”?

Yes. You change both verbs to future perfective:

Я удивлю́сь, когда уви́жу цену билéта.
– I will be surprised when I see the ticket price.

Changes:

удивлю́сь – future perfective of удивиться (I will get surprised).
уви́жу – future of увидеть (I will see).

The structure with когда and the cases (цену билета) stay the same; only the verb forms change to future.