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В коридоре слышно, как лифт медленно поднимается вверх.

В коридоре слышно, как лифт медленно поднимается вверх.
In the corridor, you can hear the elevator slowly going up.
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Questions & Answers about В коридоре слышно, как лифт медленно поднимается вверх.

Why does the sentence start with В коридоре and what case is коридоре?

В коридоре means in the hallway/corridor and sets the scene (location) first, which is very common in Russian.
коридоре is prepositional case (also called locative in some contexts) after в meaning in/inside: в + prepositional → в коридоре.

What does слышно mean grammatically? Who is doing the hearing?

Слышно is a predicative adverb used in an impersonal construction. It literally means something like it is audible / one can hear.
No specific listener is named; the idea is “from the corridor, the sound is audible.”

Why is there a comma: слышно, как...?

Because как лифт медленно поднимается вверх is a subordinate clause dependent on the main clause В коридоре слышно. Russian typically uses a comma to separate the main clause from the subordinate one introduced by как.

Does как here mean how or that?

In this sentence как is close to English how / the way that, and it’s commonly used after verbs/predicatives of perception (видно, слышно, заметно) to introduce what is perceived.
A natural English equivalent is “You can hear the elevator slowly going up,” i.e., you hear the process/scene.

Could I replace как with что?

Usually нет in this exact meaning. After слышно (audible) Russian strongly prefers как to describe the perceived action/event.
что would sound unnatural here, because it tends to introduce a fact/content (“that...”), while как fits “hearing/seeing something happening.”

Why is лифт in the nominative (лифт) and not some other case?

Because inside the subordinate clause лифт медленно поднимается вверх, лифт is the subject of the verb поднимается.
Even though the whole clause is something you hear, grammatically it’s still a normal sentence with its own subject and verb.

What’s the difference between поднимается and поднимает(ся)?

поднимается = goes up / rises / is going up (intransitive: the elevator is moving upward itself).
поднимает = lifts/raises (something) (transitive: a person/device lifts something).
Russian often uses -ся forms to make a verb intransitive or “happen by itself.”

What aspect is поднимается, and why that aspect?

поднимается is imperfective (process/ongoing action).
That matches the meaning: you can hear the elevator in the process of moving upward, not a completed “it went up (and finished).”

Is медленно in the right place? Could it move?

Yes, лифт медленно поднимается вверх is very natural: adverb before the verb is common.
You can also say лифт поднимается медленно вверх (also possible), but the original sounds smoother and keeps медленно close to the action.

Is вверх necessary if поднимается already means “goes up”?

It’s optional but common.
поднимается already implies upward movement, but вверх can add emphasis/clarity, especially in contrast to going down (вниз) or to highlight direction: “you can hear it slowly moving upwards.”

Could this be phrased with слышится instead of слышно?

Yes, with a slightly different feel:

  • В коридоре слышно, как... = neutral, “it’s audible.”
  • В коридоре слышится, как... = “it can be heard / is heard,” often a bit more “descriptive” or “literary,” focusing on the sound appearing.

Both are grammatical; слышно is very common in everyday speech.

What’s the typical word order and what would sound unnatural?

Very typical: [location] + [impersonal predicate] + , + [subordinate clause].
The sentence feels most natural as:

  • В коридоре слышно, как лифт медленно поднимается вверх.

You can rearrange parts for emphasis, but something like Как лифт медленно поднимается вверх, слышно в коридоре is possible yet noticeably more “written” or stylized.

How is this pronounced / where is the stress?

A helpful stress guide:

  • в коридОре слЫшно, как лифт медлЕнно поднимАется ввЕрх.

Key points: коридОре, слЫшно, медлЕнно, поднимАется, ввЕрх.