Парковка платная.

Parking is paid.

Breakdown of Парковка платная.

• платный: paid
• парковка: the parking

Questions & Answers about Парковка платная.

Why is there no word for is in Парковка платная?

In Russian, the verb быть (to be) in the present tense is usually omitted.
So instead of a full sentence like Парковка есть платная, modern Russian just says Парковка платная.

Pattern:

• Машина новая. – The car is new.
• Парковка платная. – The parking is paid.

In the past and future, you normally bring быть back: Парковка была платной, Парковка будет платной.

Why is платная feminine?

Парковка is a noun of feminine gender (it ends in -а and is feminine: она, парковка).
Adjectives in Russian agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

So you get:

• feminine singular noun: парковка
• feminine singular adjective: платная

If the noun were masculine or neuter, the adjective would change:

• Паркинг платный. (masculine)
• Место платное. (neuter)

What case is парковка in here, and why?

Парковка is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.
The adjective платная is also nominative, functioning as the predicate (what we are saying about the subject).

Structurally it is like:

• Парковка (есть) платная. – Parking (is) paid.

Nominative + nominative is the standard pattern for simple X is Y (adjective) statements in the present tense.

Shouldn’t it be платна instead of платная? What’s the difference?

Платная is the full form adjective; платна is the short form.

• Full form: платный / платная / платное / платные
• Short form: платен / платна / платно / платны

In modern Russian:

• Full forms (платная) are far more common in everyday speech for sentences like this.
• Short forms (платна) sound more formal, literary, or fixed/official in tone, and are much less frequent with платный specifically.

So Парковка платная is neutral and natural.
Парковка платна is grammatically correct but sounds stylistically marked or old-fashioned in normal conversation.

What is the difference between Парковка платная and Платная парковка?

They use the same words, but the focus and typical usage differ:

• Парковка платная.

  • A full sentence: The parking is paid.
  • Used as a statement, answer, or explanation.
  • Neutral intonation: [subject] + [what we say about it].

• Платная парковка.

  • A noun phrase: paid parking / a paid parking lot.
  • Often appears on signs, in lists, or when naming a type of parking.
  • You can drop the verb: a sign might simply say ПЛАТНАЯ ПАРКОВКА.

So Парковка платная feels like a spoken statement; Платная парковка feels more like a label or title.

When would you say Это платная парковка instead?

Это платная парковка literally means This is a paid parking lot.

Use it when you are:

• Identifying what something is:
  
  • Someone asks: Что это за место? – Это платная парковка.
• Pointing something out:
  
  • Это платная парковка, а там бесплатная.

Парковка платная just says something about the parking (that it’s paid) and assumes we already know we are talking about a parking area.
Это платная парковка introduces or identifies the object as such.

What exactly does парковка mean here: parking lot, parking space, or just “parking”?

Парковка is fairly broad. It can mean:

• A parking area / car park / parking lot.
• Parking as a service or process (the act of parking somewhere).

In Парковка платная, context usually tells you whether it’s:

• a specific physical place (lot, garage) or
• the general possibility of parking in this area.

On or near a lot, Парковка платная is normally understood as Parking here is for a fee (i.e., the parking in this zone costs money).

How would you say The parking is free or Parking is free?

The most direct parallel is:

• Парковка бесплатная. – Parking is free.

Other natural options:

• Здесь бесплатная парковка. – There is free parking here.
• On a sign: БЕСПЛАТНАЯ ПАРКОВКА – Free parking.

Again, есть is omitted in the present: Парковка (есть) бесплатная → Парковка бесплатная.

How do you say this in the past and future: The parking was/will be paid?

In the past, you usually use была (feminine, to match парковка):

• Парковка была платной. – The parking was paid.

Here the adjective switches to instrumental (платной) because of была.

In the future, similarly:

• Парковка будет платной. – The parking will be paid.

So:

• Present, no verb: Парковка платная. (nominative)
• Past/future with быть: Парковка была/будет платной. (instrumental)

Could this appear like this on an actual sign in Russia?

Yes, but the more common sign text is the noun phrase ПЛАТНАЯ ПАРКОВКА (all caps, without a verb).

You might see:

• ПЛАТНАЯ ПАРКОВКА – Paid parking.
• ПАРКОВКА ПЛАТНАЯ – also possible, but less typical as a sign header.

In everyday speech or in a full sentence (e.g., in an announcement, on a website), Парковка платная is completely natural.