Breakdown of С тех пор как я удалил тот файл, у меня всегда лежит копия на флешке.
Questions & Answers about С тех пор как я удалил тот файл, у меня всегда лежит копия на флешке.
Because С тех пор как introduces a subordinate time clause (как я удалил тот файл). In Russian, a subordinate clause is normally separated from the main clause by a comma:
- С тех пор как я удалил тот файл, (subordinate clause)
- у меня всегда лежит копия на флешке. (main clause)
You’ll also often see it written as С тех пор, как ... (with an extra comma), but your version is very common and fully correct.
The past in я удалил marks the one-time event that started the situation. The present in лежит describes what is true “now” and continuously/habitually since that moment:
- Since I deleted that file (past event), I always keep a copy on a flash drive (present situation).
Russian frequently does this with “since” constructions.
Удалил is perfective and presents the deletion as a completed, single event (result-focused): “I deleted it (and it’s gone).”
Удалял would sound like an ongoing/repeated process (“I was deleting / used to delete”), which doesn’t fit well with a single “starting point” in с тех пор как in this context.
Literally: с тех пор = “since that time,” and как introduces the clause = “since (the time when) …”
Close alternatives:
- После того как я удалил тот файл, ... = “After I deleted that file, ...” (more neutral “after”)
- С того момента как ... = “From the moment when ...” (slightly more formal/emphatic)
У меня is the common Russian way to express possession/location relative to a person: “at my place / in my possession.”
So у меня лежит копия is like “I have a copy lying/kept (somewhere with me).” It emphasizes where the copy is kept (with me), not the action “I keep.”
Yes, literally лежать = “to lie,” but it’s very commonly used for objects meaning “to be lying somewhere / to be kept somewhere (stored, sitting around).”
So у меня всегда лежит копия на флешке means “I always have a copy kept on a flash drive,” with a casual, everyday tone.
You can, and it’s very natural. The nuance:
- у меня есть копия = “I have a copy” (fact of existence/possession)
- у меня лежит копия = “a copy is lying/kept (stored)” (focus on it being placed/stored somewhere)
With на флешке, лежит sounds especially natural because it paints the “stored on a device” picture.
Russian word order is flexible and used for emphasis. Here:
- у меня comes early to set the frame “as for me / on my side”
- всегда naturally sits near the verb
- копия comes after the verb, which is common with “there exists/there lies” style sentences
Копия всегда лежит у меня на флешке is also possible; it slightly emphasizes копия as the topic.
Тот means “that (one),” typically referring to something previously mentioned, known, or mentally “over there” in the past context: “that file (the one we’re talking about).”
Этот (“this”) would sound more immediate/near to the speaker’s current situation. In a “since then” context, тот often feels more natural.
It’s the prepositional case: на флешке (ending -е).
With storage media/devices, Russian often uses на:
- на флешке (on a flash drive)
- на диске (on a disk)
- на компьютере (on a computer)
В флешке would sound odd here (more like “inside the flash drive” physically).
Флешка is very common and conversational. More formal/technical variants:
- флеш-накопитель
- USB-накопитель
- флеш-диск (also common)
In everyday speech, флешка is the default.