Удар был сильным.

to be

Breakdown of Удар был сильным.

• сильный: strong
• удар: the blow

Questions & Answers about Удар был сильным.

What are the basic meanings and grammar roles of each word in Удар был сильным?

• Удар – noun, masculine, singular, nominative. Means “a blow / hit / strike.” It’s the subject of the sentence.
• был – past tense, masculine, singular of быть (“to be”). Here it means “was.”
• сильным – adjective сильный (“strong”), masculine/neuter, singular, instrumental case. It’s a predicate adjective describing удар.

Literal structure: “The blow was strong.”

Why is сильным in the instrumental case and not nominative сильный?

Russian often uses the instrumental case for a predicate after the verb быть (and some similar verbs) when describing what something was / became / seemed, etc.

• Удар был сильным. – literally: “The blow was (as) strong.” (instrumental)
• This is called the predicate instrumental.

Using the instrumental here is standard and neutral. With adjectives, Russian allows two patterns:

• Nominative predicate:
  Удар был сильный.
• Instrumental predicate:
  Удар был сильным.

Both are grammatically correct. The instrumental often sounds a bit more “complete,” neutral, or literary, while the nominative can sound more conversational or evaluative. In everyday speech, you will hear both; textbooks tend to prefer the instrumental here.