Живой концерт проходит в большом зале.

The live concert is taking place in the big hall.

Breakdown of Живой концерт проходит в большом зале.

• большой: big
• в: in
• концерт: the concert
• зал: the hall
• проходить: to take place
• живой: alive

Questions & Answers about Живой концерт проходит в большом зале.

Why do we say живой концерт instead of just концерт?

Концерт by itself is neutral and just means “a concert.”

Adding живой narrows the meaning to “live concert” (not recorded, not playback). It tells you:

• the music is performed live, in real time
• the musicians are actually present, not just a recording over speakers

So:

• концерт – a concert (could be live, could even be mostly playback, context decides)
• живой концерт – specifically a live performance

Does живой here literally mean “alive”? How does it get the meaning “live (concert)”?

The basic meaning of живой is indeed “alive, living.” For example:

• живой человек – a living person
• живое дерево – a living tree

From this literal sense, Russian extends живой to mean “real, happening right now, not recorded or not artificial.” In that extended sense, you get:

• живой концерт – a live concert
• живое выступление – a live performance
• живое общение – real, face-to-face (or at least direct) communication
• живой звук – live sound (no playback)

So in this sentence, живой is understood as “live (not recorded)”, not “alive” in a biological sense.

Could живой концерт also mean “a lively, energetic concert”?

In practice, no—живой концерт is normally understood as “live concert”, not “lively concert.”

If you want to say the concert is lively/energetic, Russian speakers would usually phrase it differently, for example:

• очень энергичный концерт – a very energetic concert
• живой концерт in a different position:
  
  • Концерт был очень живой. – The concert was very lively.

So:

• атtributive position (before the noun):
  
  • живой концерт → almost always “live concert”
• predicative use (after “to be”):
  
  • Концерт живой / был живым. → “the concert is/was lively, animated”

Position in the sentence changes the most natural interpretation.

Why is the adjective before the noun: живой концерт, большой зал? Can I say концерт живой?

In Russian, the default position of an adjective that describes a noun is before the noun:

• живой концерт – a live concert
• большой зал – a big hall
• красивый дом – a beautiful house

You can say концерт живой, but then живой is no longer a normal defining adjective; it becomes more like a statement about the concert:

• Концерт живой. – The concert is lively / The concert is live.

That structure is similar to English “The concert is live/lively”, not “a live concert.”

So in your sentence, живой концерт is the natural, neutral way to say “a live concert.”

Why is the verb проходит used here? How should I understand it?

The verb проходит (from проходить) here means “to take place, to be held, to be going on.”

So концерт проходит ≈ “the concert is taking place / is being held.”

Key points:

• It’s imperfective, present tense: an event that is in progress or generally happens.
• It doesn’t describe movement here; it’s a set phrase for events:
  • Собрание проходит в школе. – The meeting takes place at school.
  • Выставка проходит в музее. – The exhibition is being held in the museum.

So Живой концерт проходит в большом зале. =
“The live concert is taking place in the big hall.”

What’s the difference between проходит концерт and идёт концерт?

Both can be used about events, often interchangeably, but there are nuances:

• идёт концерт

  • literally “the concert is going (on)”
  • very common, especially about things that are currently in progress
  • strongly focused on “it is now happening / on air / on stage”

• проходит концерт

  • “the concert takes place / is held / is going on”
  • works both for specific current events and for more formal / general descriptions:
    • Каждый год проходит концерт. – Every year a concert takes place.
    • Сегодня вечером проходит концерт. – This evening a concert is taking place.

In your sentence, проходит is slightly more neutral/formal than идёт, but Живой концерт идёт в большом зале. would also be understandable and natural.

What tense and aspect is проходит, and how would I say “was taking place” or “will take place”?

Проходит is:

• Aspect: imperfective
• Tense: present
• 3rd person singular

To talk about other times:

• Past (was taking place / took place):

  • imperfective: концерт проходил – was taking place (focus on duration/process)
  • perfective: концерт прошёл – (has) taken place, was held (focus on the fact it’s finished)

• Future:

  • imperfective: концерт будет проходить – will be taking place / will take place (more process or regularity)
  • perfective: концерт пройдёт – will take place, will be held (one completed event)

Examples:

• Живой концерт проходил в большом зале. – The live concert was taking place in the big hall.
• Живой концерт пройдёт в большом зале. – The live concert will take place in the big hall.

Why is it в большом зале, not в большом зал or в большой зал?

This is about case and direction vs location.

1. Зал is masculine:

   • Nominative: зал
   • Prepositional (after в meaning “in” with no movement): в зале

2. In your sentence, the meaning is “in the big hall” – location, no movement into it.
   For location, Russian uses prepositional case after в:

   • в зале – in the hall
   • в большом зале – in the big hall

3. В большой зал (accusative) would mean “into the big hall” (motion towards):

   • Мы вошли в большой зал. – We went into the big hall.

So:

• в большом зале – in the big hall (where the concert is taking place)
• в большой зал – into the big hall (where someone is going)

Why does большой change to большом in в большом зале?

Adjectives in Russian agree with the noun in case, number, and gender.

• зал is masculine singular.
• In “в зале”, зал is in the prepositional case (location “in”).

Masculine singular adjective endings:

• Nominative: большой зал – a big hall
• Prepositional (after в, на with location): в большом зале – in the big hall

So the pattern is:

• большой зал (nom.)
• в большом зале (prep.)

The change -ой → -ом signals: “this adjective is in prepositional case, masculine singular, matching its noun.”

Why is концерт in the nominative case here?

Концерт is the subject of the sentence—the thing that “is taking place.”

In Russian:

• The subject of a normal sentence is in the nominative case.
• The verb проходит describes what the subject is doing.

So:

• Что проходит? – концерт.
  The answer is nominative: (живой) концерт.

There is no direct object here; the rest (в большом зале) is a prepositional phrase showing the location, not an object.

Can I change the word order to В большом зале проходит живой концерт? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can, and the basic meaning stays the same.

• Живой концерт проходит в большом зале.
  Neutral: focus starts on “live concert”, then specifies where it is.

• В большом зале проходит живой концерт.
  Slightly shifts the focus to the place first – “In the big hall, there is a live concert taking place.”

Both are grammatically correct and natural. Russian word order is fairly flexible; moving parts around often changes emphasis, not the core meaning.

Why is it в большом зале, not на большом зале? When do we use в versus на for places like this?

With зал (an indoor hall), Russian uses в:

• в зале – in the hall
• в большом зале – in the big hall

Very roughly:

• в is more common for being inside an enclosed space:

  • в комнате – in the room
  • в доме – in the house
  • в театре – in the theater

• на is more common for:

  • surfaces or open areas: на улице (in the street/outside), на стадионе (at the stadium, seen as an open sports area)
  • some set expressions: на концерте (at the concert), на работе (at work), на почте (at the post office)

So you say:

• концерт проходит в большом зале – the concert takes place in the big hall
• мы были на концерте – we were at the concert (event, not the building)