На станции было скользко, поэтому женщина с санками шла очень медленно.

На станции means at the station or in the station area, and станции is in the prepositional case.

Why?

• The preposition на can mean on, at, or in, depending on context.
• With location, на often takes the prepositional case.
• станция → на станции

So:

• станция = station
• на станции = at the station

This is just the normal way to say location here.

Because было скользко is an impersonal construction meaning something like it was slippery.

Russian very often describes weather, surroundings, and general conditions this way:

• было холодно = it was cold
• было темно = it was dark
• было шумно = it was noisy
• было скользко = it was slippery

Here, скользко is not an adjective agreeing with станция. It is a predicative word describing the general situation or environment.

If you said станция была скользкая, that would sound more like the station was slippery as a specific object, which is less natural in this context. Russian usually prefers the impersonal version for conditions underfoot or in the surroundings.

Было is the past tense form of быть in an impersonal construction.

In the present tense, Russian usually omits to be:

• Здесь холодно = It is cold here.

But in the past tense, you need the past form:

• Здесь было холодно = It was cold here.

So:

• скользко = slippery
• было скользко = it was slippery

The form было is neuter singular, which is what Russian normally uses in impersonal past-tense sentences.

Поэтому means therefore, so, that’s why, or because of that.

It links the two parts of the sentence:

• На станции было скользко = It was slippery at the station
• поэтому женщина... шла очень медленно = therefore / so the woman was walking very slowly

It introduces the result of the first situation.

A very natural translation pattern is:

• It was slippery at the station, so the woman with the sled was walking very slowly.

Женщина is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the verb шла.

The sentence is about what the woman did:

• женщина шла = the woman was walking / the woman walked

So the subject stays in nominative:

• женщина

After the preposition с meaning with, Russian often uses the instrumental case.

So:

• dictionary form: санки
• instrumental plural: санками

That gives:

• женщина с санками = woman with a sled / with sleds

This phrase describes the woman as being accompanied by, carrying, pulling, or otherwise associated with the sled, depending on context.

Not necessarily. Санки is one of those Russian nouns that is usually used only in the plural even when it refers to a single object.

This is called a plural-only noun (pluralia tantum).

So:

• санки = a sled / sledge
• с санками = with a sled

Even though English often uses the singular sled, Russian normally uses the plural form санки.

This is similar in idea to English words like scissors or pants, which are grammatically plural even when referring to one object.

By itself, с санками just means with a sled and does not specify exactly how.

Depending on context, it could suggest that she:

• was pulling it,
• was holding it,
• was walking together with it,
• or simply had it with her.

Russian leaves that detail unstated here. The sentence only tells you that the woman had a sled with her.

Шла is the past tense of идти, which means to go on foot in one direction, or to be walking.

So:

• идти = to go / walk
• шла = was walking / walked

This fits the context well because the sentence describes her movement at that moment or in that situation.

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

The subject is женщина, which is grammatically feminine singular, so the verb must also be feminine singular:

• masculine: шел
• feminine: шла
• neuter: шло
• plural: шли

So:

• женщина шла = the woman was walking

This is the difference between идти and ходить.

• идти = to be going, to be walking in one direction, a specific movement
• ходить = to go habitually, repeatedly, or in no particular single direction

Here the sentence describes one concrete situation:

• the station was slippery,
• so the woman was walking very slowly.

That calls for шла from идти, not ходила.

Compare:

• Она шла медленно = She was walking slowly.
• Она ходила туда каждый день = She went there every day.

Because медленно is an adverb, and it describes how she was walking.

• медленный / медленная = slow (adjective, describing a noun)
• медленно = slowly (adverb, describing a verb)

Here it modifies шла:

• шла очень медленно = was walking very slowly

If you said медленная, that would have to describe a noun, for example:

• медленная женщина = a slow woman

But that is not what the sentence is saying.

Yes. Russian word order is relatively flexible, though the original order is very natural.

Original:

• На станции было скользко, поэтому женщина с санками шла очень медленно.

This order presents:

1. the situation first,
2. then the consequence.

You could move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Женщина с санками шла очень медленно, потому что на станции было скользко.

That version uses потому что instead of поэтому and changes the structure to because rather than therefore.

You could also rearrange parts inside the sentence, but not every order sounds equally neutral. The given version is straightforward and natural.

Russian has no articles.

So женщина can mean:

• a woman
• the woman

and на станции can mean:

• at a station
• at the station

You understand which one is meant from context.

In this sentence, English translation might use either a woman or the woman, depending on the broader context. Russian itself does not mark that distinction with an article.