Мука лежала на верхней полке, и мне пришлось встать на стул, чтобы достать её.

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Breakdown of Мука лежала на верхней полке, и мне пришлось встать на стул, чтобы достать её.

• стул: the chair
• и: and
• на: on

Questions & Answers about Мука лежала на верхней полке, и мне пришлось встать на стул, чтобы достать её.

Why is мука in the form мука?

Because мука is the subject of the first clause, so it is in the nominative case.

• мука = flour
• лежала = was lying / was sitting / was located

So Мука лежала... literally means The flour was lying...

Also note that мука is a feminine singular noun, and that affects the verb form too.

Why is it лежала, not лежал or лежало?

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

Since мука is:

• feminine
• singular

the verb must be лежала.

Compare:

• стол лежал = the table was lying
• книга лежала = the book was lying
• письмо лежало = the letter was lying
• вещи лежали = the things were lying

So мука лежала is correct because мука is feminine.

Why does Russian use лежала here? Flour does not literally lie down in English.