Word
Не успели мы выехать из города, как впереди произошла авария, и движение остановилось.
Meaning
We had barely left the city when there was an accident ahead, and traffic stopped.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Не успели мы выехать из города, как впереди произошла авария, и движение остановилось.
город
the city
и
and
мы
we
движение
the traffic
Questions & Answers about Не успели мы выехать из города, как впереди произошла авария, и движение остановилось.
What does the pattern Не успели …, как … mean, and why is как used here?
This is a common Russian construction meaning “no sooner … than …” / “we had barely … when …”.
Here как is a conjunction meaning “when/as”, not “how”. It introduces the second event that happens immediately after the first one.
Why is there a comma before как?
Because как introduces a second clause in this fixed “immediate sequence” pattern:
Не успели [clause 1], как [clause 2].
The comma separates the two clauses, similar to English punctuation in “Hardly had we…, when…”.
Why is it Не успели мы выехать… and not Мы не успели выехать…? Does word order matter?
Both are correct.
- Мы не успели выехать… is neutral.
- Не успели мы выехать… is more literary/expressive and highlights the “hardly had we…” feeling.
Russian word order is flexible; moving не успели to the front adds emphasis.
What exactly does успеть mean here?