Синяя лейка стояла у двери, и я полила рассаду перед ужином.

Because лейка is a feminine noun. In Russian, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

• masculine: синий
• feminine: синяя
• neuter: синее
• plural: синие

So синяя лейка means blue watering can, with both words in the feminine singular nominative.

Стояла is the past tense feminine singular form of стоять (to stand).

Russian past tense verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

• masculine: стоял
• feminine: стояла
• neuter: стояло
• plural: стояли

Since лейка is feminine, the verb is стояла.

Russian often uses verbs like стоять (stand), лежать (lie), and висеть (hang) where English might simply say be.

So лейка стояла у двери sounds natural in Russian because the object is being described as being in an upright position or simply located there in a typical way.

Using была у двери is possible in some contexts, but стояла is more vivid and more natural here.

After the preposition у, Russian normally uses the genitive case.

So:

• дверь = nominative
• у двери = genitive after у

Here у двери means by the door / near the door.

This is a very common pattern:

• у дома = by the house
• у окна = by the window
• у двери = by the door

Yes. У двери and возле двери can both mean by/near the door.

A rough difference:

• у двери = very close to the door, right by it
• возле двери = near the door

In many everyday sentences, they are interchangeable. У двери is very natural and compact here.

This is a question of aspect.

• полила = perfective: a completed action, viewed as a whole
• поливала = imperfective: ongoing, repeated, or background action

Here the speaker is talking about one completed action: she watered the seedlings before dinner. That is why полила is used.

Compare:

• Я полила рассаду перед ужином. = I watered the seedlings before dinner.
• Я поливала рассаду каждый вечер. = I used to water the seedlings every evening.

Because the speaker is female.

In the Russian past tense, verbs agree with the subject in gender when the subject is I or you only if the speaker/listener’s gender is known from context.

So:

• я полил = I watered ... (male speaker)
• я полила = I watered ... (female speaker)

This sentence therefore suggests that the speaker is female.

Рассаду is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of полила.

The basic form is:

• рассада = nominative

For many feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative singular changes to -у:

• лейка → лейку
• рассада → рассаду

So полила рассаду means watered the seedlings/seedlings bed.

Because рассада is often used in Russian as a collective noun. It refers to seedlings as a group, rather than counting individual plants one by one.

So even if English naturally says the seedlings, Russian may use singular рассада.

That is very normal:

• полить рассаду = to water the seedlings/seedling plants

The preposition перед takes the instrumental case.

So:

• ужин = nominative
• перед ужином = instrumental

This expression means before dinner.

The same pattern appears in other examples:

• перед работой = before work
• перед сном = before sleep / before bed
• перед уроком = before class

Because they describe different kinds of situations.

• стояла is imperfective: it describes a state or background situation
• полила is perfective: it describes a completed event

So the sentence has a very natural narrative structure:

1. background: The blue watering can was standing by the door
2. event: and I watered the seedlings before dinner

Russian often uses imperfective for the setting and perfective for the main completed action.

Because и here joins two separate clauses, each with its own subject and verb:

1. Синяя лейка стояла у двери
2. я полила рассаду перед ужином

In Russian, when и connects two independent clauses, a comma is usually used.

So the comma is correct and expected here.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English because case endings show the grammatical roles.

The original order is neutral and natural:

• Синяя лейка стояла у двери, и я полила рассаду перед ужином.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Перед ужином я полила рассаду.
• У двери стояла синяя лейка.

Changing the order usually changes the focus or style, not the core meaning.

A male speaker would say:

и я полил рассаду перед ужином

The only change is:

• female speaker: полила
• male speaker: полил

Everything else stays the same.

Yes, stress is important in Russian. Here are the main words:

• си́няя
• ле́йка
• стоя́ла
• двери́
• полила́
• расса́ду
• пе́ред
• у́жином

A learner often wants to pay special attention to стоя́ла and полила́, since the stress is not always where an English speaker might expect it.