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Без электричества лифт не работал, поэтому я поднялась по лестнице пешком.

Без электричества лифт не работал, поэтому я поднялась по лестнице пешком.
Without electricity the elevator didn’t work, so I went up the stairs on foot.

Breakdown of Без электричества лифт не работал, поэтому я поднялась по лестнице пешком.

я
I
не
not
работать
to work
без
without
лифт
the elevator
по
up
лестница
the stairs
пешком
on foot
поэтому
so/therefore
электричество
the electricity
подняться
to go up
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Questions & Answers about Без электричества лифт не работал, поэтому я поднялась по лестнице пешком.

Why does электричества become электричества (genitive) after без?

The preposition без (without) normally requires the genitive case.
So электричество (nominative) → электричества (genitive): без электричества = without electricity.

Is Без электричества a full clause? It feels like something is missing (like не было).

It’s a prepositional phrase, not a full clause. Russian often uses this kind of “setting phrase” to give the circumstance:
Без электричества = With no electricity / Without electricity.
You could also say a fuller version like Не было электричества, и лифт не работал... (There was no electricity, and the elevator didn’t work...), but the given sentence is completely natural as-is.

Why is it лифт не работал and not лифт не работал(а/о) or some other ending?

Past tense in Russian agrees in gender and number with the subject.
лифт is masculine singular, so the verb is работал (masculine past).

  • masculine: работал
  • feminine: работала
  • neuter: работало
  • plural: работали
What’s the difference between не работал and something like не сработал?

не работал (imperfective) means wasn’t working / didn’t work (over a period of time)—a general state.
не сработал (perfective) is more like didn’t work (at one moment) / failed to activate—a one-time failure.
Here, не работал fits because the elevator simply wasn’t functioning due to the outage.

Why is поэтому used here, and why is there a comma before it?

поэтому means therefore / so / that’s why, introducing a result.
A comma is used because it separates two parts of a complex sentence:
[cause], поэтому [result].
In other words: The elevator didn’t work, therefore I walked up the stairs.

Could I replace поэтому with так что? What would change?

Yes, often.

  • поэтому = therefore / that’s why (slightly more “logical/explicit”)
  • так что = so / so that / as a result (often more conversational)

Example: ...лифт не работал, так что я поднялась... is also natural.

Why is it я поднялась (perfective) and not я поднималась (imperfective)?

поднялась (perfective) focuses on a completed result: you ended up at the top.
поднималась (imperfective) focuses on the process: you were walking up (without emphasizing completion).
In this context, the “result” reading is most typical: she got upstairs.

Why does the verb form поднялась end with -лась?

Two things are happening: 1) Gender agreement in the past: the speaker is presumably female, so past tense is feminine: подняла- + -сь
2) -сь is the reduced form of -ся, marking a reflexive verb: подняться = to go up / rise (oneself).

So я поднялась = I (female) went up.

If the speaker were male, what would change?

Only the past-tense gender marking:

  • female: я поднялась
  • male: я поднялся
    Everything else can stay the same.
Why is it по лестнице? What case is лестнице?

After по meaning along / via / by (a route), Russian usually uses the dative case.
So лестница → лестнице (dative): по лестнице = by the stairs / via the staircase / up the stairs.

What does пешком add, if по лестнице already implies walking?

пешком means on foot and emphasizes that you didn’t take any vehicle/transport (and in some contexts contrasts with taking an elevator/escalator).
It can sound slightly redundant in English, but in Russian it’s a common, natural intensifier: I went up the stairs on foot (i.e., not by elevator).

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Лифт не работал без электричества?

Russian word order is flexible, but it changes emphasis.

  • Без электричества лифт не работал emphasizes the condition first (Without electricity...)
  • Лифт не работал без электричества is possible but can sound like “The elevator doesn’t work without electricity (in general),” more like a general statement.

For this specific situation (power outage), the original order is more natural.