Утром под яблоней было тихо, только грабли лежали на траве после работы.

In the morning it was quiet under the apple tree; only the rake was lying on the grass after the work.

Breakdown of Утром под яблоней было тихо, только грабли лежали на траве после работы.

• быть: to be
• работа: the work
• на: on
• тихо: quiet

Questions & Answers about Утром под яблоней было тихо, только грабли лежали на траве после работы.

Why is утром in that form? Why not something like в утро or утро?

Утром is a very common adverbial form meaning in the morning.

Historically, it is the instrumental case of утро (morning), but in modern Russian learners often just memorize утром as a time expression.

Compare:

• утром = in the morning
• днём = during the day / in the daytime
• вечером = in the evening
• ночью = at night

So in this sentence, Утром sets the time: In the morning...

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Why is it под яблоней and not под яблоню?

Because под can take different cases depending on whether there is movement or location.

• под + instrumental = under (location, no movement)
• под + accusative = to under / underneath (direction, movement)

Here the sentence describes where things were: under the apple tree, so Russian uses the instrumental:

• под яблоней = under the apple tree

If there were movement, you could say:

• положить грабли под яблоню = to put the rake(s) under the apple tree