Церемония проходит в большом зале.

The ceremony takes place in the big hall.

Breakdown of Церемония проходит в большом зале.

• большой: big
• в: in
• зал: the hall
• проходить: to take place
• церемония: the ceremony

Questions & Answers about Церемония проходит в большом зале.

What does проходит mean here, and why is this verb used for a ceremony?

The verb проходит is the 3rd person singular present of проходить.

Literally, проходить can mean to pass (through), to go by, but with events it means:

• (an event) takes place / is held / is going on

So in this sentence, Церемония проходит в большом зале = The ceremony is taking place / is held in the big hall.

Russian commonly uses проходить with events like:

• Конференция проходит в Москве. – The conference is taking place in Moscow.
• Уроки проходят по утрам. – The lessons take place in the mornings.

Is проходит talking about something happening right now, or a general / scheduled event?

It can express both, depending on context:

1. Right now (current situation)
   If someone is describing what is happening at this moment:
   Сейчас церемония проходит в большом зале. – Right now the ceremony is taking place in the big hall.

2. Regular / typical / scheduled situation
   It can also mean usually / always / this year / these days:

   • Каждый год церемония проходит в большом зале. – Every year the ceremony takes place in the big hall.
   • В этом году церемония проходит в большом зале. – This year the ceremony is being held in the big hall.

So context (time words like сейчас, каждый год, в этом году) tells you whether it’s now or a general pattern.

What grammatical case is в большом зале, and why is that case used?

В большом зале is in the prepositional case.

With the preposition в, Russian uses:

• Accusative = motion into a place
  
  • в зал – into the hall
• Prepositional = location in a place (no movement)
  
  • в зале – in the hall

In this sentence there is no movement; it just states the location of the ceremony. That’s why:

• в зале (prepositional) = in the hall
• в большом зале – same, with an agreeing adjective.

Why is it большом and not большой in в большом зале?

Большой is the basic (nominative masculine) form of the adjective:

• большой зал – a big hall

In в большом зале, the noun зал is in the prepositional case singular, so the adjective must also go to prepositional masculine singular:

• Masculine singular adjective, prepositional: -ом ending
  
  • в новом доме – in the new house
  • о русском языке – about the Russian language
  • в большом зале – in the big hall

So большой → большом to agree with зале in case, number, and gender.

Why is it зале and not зал? What form is зале?

Зал is a masculine noun (hard consonant ending). Its forms include:

• Nominative singular (dictionary form): зал – hall
• Prepositional singular: (в) зале – in the hall

The -е ending is typical for many masculine nouns in the prepositional singular:

• в доме – in the house (from дом)
• в шкафе – in the wardrobe (from шкаф)
• в зале – in the hall (from зал)

Because the preposition в here indicates static location, we need the prepositional: в зале.

How do you pronounce Церемония проходит в большом зале? Where is the stress?

Stresses (stressed syllables in caps):

• церемо́ния – tse-re-MO-ni-ya
  Stress on мо.
• прохо́дит – pra-KHO-dit
  Stress on хо.
• в – pronounced like v in voice (often very short, almost attached to the next word).
• большо́м – bal-SHOM
  Stress on the final о́м.
• за́ле – ZA-le
  Stress on за.

So, spoken smoothly:

церемо́ния прохо́дит в большо́м за́ле.

What is the difference between проходит, идёт, состоится, and происходит for events?

All can be used with events, but with different nuances:

1. проходит (from проходить, imperfective)

   • Neutral, very common for events: takes place / is held / is going on
   • Церемония проходит в большом зале.

2. идёт (from идти, imperfective)

   • Literally is going, but with events: is in progress / is on right now
   • Sounds more like it is currently happening, often with performances, films, broadcasts:
     
     • Сейчас идёт концерт. – The concert is on now.

3. состоится (from состояться, perfective)

   • Will take place / will be held (more official/formal, result-oriented)
   • Often for future or single planned events:
     
     • Церемония состоится завтра. – The ceremony will take place tomorrow.

4. происходит (from происходить, imperfective)

   • Is happening / is occurring
   • More general “what’s going on”, not specifically “held/organized” events:
     
     • Что здесь происходит? – What’s going on here?

In your sentence, проходит is the most natural neutral choice for a planned/formal event.

How would you say “The ceremony will take place in the big hall” and “The ceremony took place in the big hall”?

Using the same verb проходить / пройти:

• Future (will take place):

  • Церемония пройдёт в большом зале.
    – The ceremony will take place in the big hall.
    Here пройдёт is future, perfective (one completed event).

• Past (took place):

  • Церемония прошла в большом зале.
    – The ceremony took place in the big hall.
    Прошла is past, perfective, feminine (agreeing with церемония).

You can also use состоится / состоялась for a slightly more official tone:

• Церемония состоится в большом зале. – will take place
• Церемония состоялась в большом зале. – took place

Could the sentence start with в большом зале instead? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• В большом зале проходит церемония.

The basic meaning is the same, but word order affects emphasis:

• Церемония проходит в большом зале.
  Slight emphasis on what is happening (the ceremony) and then where.

• В большом зале проходит церемония.
  Slight emphasis on where first (in the big hall), then you say what is happening there.

Both are grammatically correct neutral sentences; context and focus decide which is more natural.

Why is церемония feminine, and is it related to the English word “ceremony”?

Yes, церемония is a borrowing ultimately from the same Latin source as English ceremony, so they are cognates.

Grammatically:

• It ends in -я, which is typical for many feminine nouns in Russian.

• Its basic forms:

  • Nominative singular: церемо́ния – ceremony
  • Genitive singular: церемо́нии – of the ceremony
  • Prepositional singular: о церемо́нии – about the ceremony, etc.

In your sentence, церемония is the subject in the nominative case, so it stays as церемо́ния.

Why is it в большом зале, not на большом зале? When do you use в vs на?

Here, в is correct: в большом зале – in the big hall.

General tendencies:

• в = “in, inside” (enclosed or 3‑dimensional spaces, cities, countries)

  • в зале – in the hall
  • в комнате – in the room
  • в Москве – in Moscow

• на = “on, at” (surfaces, open areas, events, some institutions)

  • на столе – on the table
  • на улице – in the street / outside
  • на концерте – at a concert
  • на лекции – at a lecture

A зал is treated as an interior space, so you are в зале (in the hall), not на зале.

Is there any difference in meaning between Церемония проходит в большом зале and Церемония идёт в большом зале?

They are close, but not identical in nuance:

• Церемония проходит в большом зале.
  Neutral, standard way to say where the ceremony takes place / is held.
  Works for describing usual, scheduled, or current location.

• Церемония идёт в большом зале.
  Emphasizes that the ceremony is in progress right now (like a show that is “on”).
  More common with performances, movies, broadcasts:

  • Фильм идёт в кинотеатре. – The movie is playing in the cinema.

Your original sentence with проходит is the most typical for a formal event like a ceremony.