На улице было влажно, и пододеяльник сох дольше, чем наволочка.

It was humid outside, and the duvet cover dried longer than the pillowcase.

Breakdown of На улице было влажно, и пододеяльник сох дольше, чем наволочка.

• быть: to be
• и: and
• на: on
• улица: the street
• чем: than
• дольше: longer
• наволочка: the pillowcase
• пододеяльник: the duvet cover
• влажный: humid
• сохнуть: to dry

Questions & Answers about На улице было влажно, и пододеяльник сох дольше, чем наволочка.

Why does the sentence start with На улице, and what case is улице in?

На улице means outside / in the street / outdoors (depending on context).
улице is in the prepositional case (locative meaning), used after на when it means “(located) on/in a place”:

• на улице = outside / on the street
  Compare:
• в комнате = in the room
• на улице = outside (literally “on the street”)

Why is it было влажно and not something like была влажная?

было влажно is an impersonal predicative construction: “it was damp.”

• было is past tense neuter singular because there is no grammatical subject like “it” in Russian here.
• влажно is a predicative adverb/state word (category of state), describing the general conditions.

If you wanted an adjective, you’d need a noun:

• На улице была влажная погода. = “Outside the weather was damp.”

Is влажно an adjective or an adverb here?

In this sentence, влажно functions as a predicative word (state), not a normal adverb modifying a verb and not an adjective modifying a noun. It answers “what was it like (in general)?” → “damp.”

Why is there a comma before и: ..., и пододеяльник...?

Because и connects two independent clauses: 1) На улице было влажно
2) пододеяльник сох дольше, чем наволочка

In Russian, when и links two full clauses with their own grammar, a comma is normally used.

What is the dictionary form of сох, and what tense/aspect is it?

сох is past tense masculine singular of сохнуть = “to be drying / to dry (process).”
It’s imperfective, focusing on the ongoing process of drying rather than the finished result.

Why сох and not высох?

сох (from сохнуть, imperfective) emphasizes the process and duration: “was drying.”
высох (from высохнуть, perfective) emphasizes the completed result: “dried (and is now dry).”

So сох дольше = “kept drying longer / took longer to dry.”
If you said высох дольше, it would sound less natural, because “longer” usually describes a process.

How do we know пододеяльник is the subject, and what case is it in?

пододеяльник is the subject of the second clause because it’s in the nominative case and the verb сох agrees with it in gender/number (masculine singular past).

Why is the verb masculine сох—what if the item were feminine?

Past tense verbs in Russian agree with the subject’s gender/number:

• masculine: пододеяльник сох
• feminine: наволочка сохла
• neuter: полотенце сохло
• plural: вещи сохли

What exactly does дольше mean here, and what form is it?

дольше is the comparative form of долго (“for a long time”).
Here it means “longer” in the sense of “it took longer (to dry)”.

Why is it дольше, чем наволочка—what is omitted after чем?

After чем, Russian often uses ellipsis (omission) because the meaning is clear.
Fully expanded, it’s roughly:

• пододеяльник сох дольше, чем (сохла) наволочка
  = “the duvet cover dried longer than the pillowcase (did).”

The verb is omitted, and the listener supplies it mentally.

What case is наволочка in after чем?

Here наволочка is in the nominative case, because it’s understood as the subject of the omitted verb:

• чем (сохла) наволочка → наволочка would be the subject → nominative.

Could you change the word order, and would it change the meaning?

Yes, word order is flexible. For example:

• Пододеяльник сох дольше, чем наволочка, потому что на улице было влажно.
• На улице было влажно, поэтому пододеяльник сох дольше, чем наволочка.

The core meaning stays the same, but the emphasis and flow change (what you present as “background” vs “new information”).