Learn Hardcore Russian: С балкона прямо видно парк. - From the balcony, the park is directly visible.

с (+ genitive) = from off / from the surface / from an open elevated place
- с крыши – from the roof
- с горы – from the mountain
- с балкона – from the balcony (thought of as an open platform)
из (+ genitive) = from the inside of something closed or container-like
- из дома – from (inside) the house
- из комнаты – from (inside) the room

A balcony is treated as an open surface you stand on, so Russian uses с балкона, not из балкона.

What case is балкона, and why is that case used?

Балкона is in the genitive singular.

The preposition с meaning from (off) always takes the genitive:

с балкона – from the balcony
с работы – from work
с дерева – from the tree

So the choice of case is dictated by the preposition с.

What part of speech is видно, and how is it different from виден / видна / видны?

In С балкона прямо видно парк, видно functions as an impersonal predicative (often described as an adverbial predicate). It comes historically from a short-form passive adjective but is now used almost like a fixed impersonal form meaning is visible / can be seen.

видно – impersonal: it is visible / one can see
- Отсюда видно море. – You can see the sea from here.
виден / видна / видны – short-form adjectives that agree with the subject:
- Парк виден с балкона. – The park is visible from the balcony.
- Гора видна из окна. – The mountain is visible from the window.
- Звёзды видны ночью. – The stars are visible at night.

In your sentence, there is no grammatical subject; видно is used in an impersonal way.

Why is there no subject like “it” in С балкона прямо видно парк?

Russian often uses impersonal constructions where English needs a dummy subject like it or you.

С балкона видно парк.
Literally: From the balcony (it) is visible the park.
Natural English: You can see the park from the balcony / The park is visible from the balcony.

There is no word for it or you; the structure itself expresses a general, subjectless fact: something is visible. This is very common with:

видно – it is visible
слышно – it is audible / you can hear
темно / светло / жарко / холодно – it’s dark / light / hot / cold, etc.

Why is парк in this form? Is it accusative or nominative?

Парк here is accusative singular, but for inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative form is identical to the nominative, so it looks the same.

In the phrase видно парк, парк is the thing that is seen, so it behaves as a direct object of the “seeing” idea:

(кто-то) видит парк – (someone) sees the park
видно парк – the park is visible / one can see the park

So grammatically it’s accusative, even though its form matches the nominative.

What exactly does прямо mean here? Is it “straight,” “directly,” or “right from”?

Прямо has several related meanings; in this sentence it most naturally means:

directly / clearly / right (from the balcony)
→ С балкона прямо видно парк ≈ From the balcony you can see the park directly / right from the balcony you can see the park.

It does not mean “physically straight” in the sense of “a straight line you must walk.” Instead it emphasizes:

there is an unobstructed, immediate view
the park is right there, plainly visible

In other contexts прямо can mean:

straight ahead:
- Идите прямо. – Go straight ahead.
exactly / just:
- Он живёт прямо напротив. – He lives right opposite.

Here it shades toward “right (from the balcony)” or “plainly, clearly.”

Could the word order be different, like С балкона парк прямо видно or Прямо с балкона видно парк?

Russian word order is flexible, but not all permutations sound natural.

С балкона прямо видно парк. – Natural and neutral.
Прямо с балкона видно парк. – Also natural; slightly stronger emphasis on “right from the balcony.”

Less natural or odd:

С балкона парк прямо видно. – Sounds awkward; парк normally follows видно here.
Парк прямо видно с балкона. – Possible, but marked; emphasizes парк (“the park, specifically, can be seen from the balcony”).

Default, everyday choice is exactly what you have: С балкона прямо видно парк.

What is the difference between С балкона видно парк and Парк виден с балкона?

Both can be translated as The park is visible from the balcony / You can see the park from the balcony, but they differ in structure and nuance:

С балкона видно парк.
- Impersonal: no grammatical subject.
- Feels a bit more colloquial and neutral.
- Focus is slightly on the viewpoint (“from the balcony”).
Парк виден с балкона.
- Personal-like: парк is the grammatical subject; виден agrees with it.
- Feels slightly more descriptive / “written”.
- Focus is a bit more on the park (“the park is visible (from the balcony)”).

In everyday speech, the impersonal version with видно is extremely common.

Can you omit прямо and just say С балкона видно парк? What changes?

Yes, you can say:

С балкона видно парк. – From the balcony you can see the park.

Without прямо, the sentence is more neutral: it simply states a fact.

Adding прямо adds nuance:

emphasizes that the view is immediate / unobstructed
can suggest “right from the balcony, without going anywhere”
can sound a bit more vivid: “You can really see it right from there.”

So прямо is optional; it adds emphasis rather than essential meaning.

Is видно related to the verb видеть “to see”? How is it different from можно видеть?

Yes, видно is historically related to видеть (to see). But their use in modern Russian is different:

видеть – full verb “to see”
- Я вижу парк. – I see the park.
видно – impersonal predicative meaning “(it) is visible / one can see”
- Отсюда видно парк. – From here you can see the park.
можно видеть – grammatically correct but stylistically heavy in many contexts:
- Отсюда можно видеть парк. – From here it is possible to see the park.
  (This sounds more formal/technical; in everyday speech people would normally say видно парк.)

In most simple “can be seen” situations, Russians prefer видно, not можно видеть.

How is this sentence pronounced, and where is the stress?

Phonetic transcription (approximate, in IPA):

С балкона прямо видно парк.
/s bɐlˈkonə ˈprʲamə ˈvʲidnə park/

Stresses:

балкОна – stress on -ко-
прЯмо – stress on -пря-
вИдно – stress on -ви-

So you say: s balcÓna PRYAmо VÍdnо park.

Could you replace прямо with something like хорошо or ясно? Would the meaning change?

Yes, and each choice changes the nuance slightly:

С балкона хорошо видно парк.
– You can see the park well from the balcony / The park is clearly visible from the balcony.
Focus on how well you see it.
С балкона ясно видно парк.
– The park is clearly / plainly visible from the balcony.
Strong emphasis on clarity of the view.
С балкона прямо видно парк.
– Emphasis on immediacy / directness / right-from-here feel.

All are correct; they just highlight different aspects of the same situation.