Крышка от маленькой банки лежит под столом.

Because after от, Russian normally uses the genitive case.

The base form is:

• маленькая банка = a small jar/can

But after от, it changes to:

• от маленькой банки = from a small jar/can / of a small jar/can

Here the words are in the genitive singular:

• маленькая → маленькой
• банка → банки

So крышка от маленькой банки literally means the lid from a small jar, which is how Russian commonly says the lid of a small jar.

In Russian, крышка от X is a very common pattern meaning the lid/cap belonging to X or the lid from X.

So:

• крышка от банки = the lid of/from a jar
• крышка от бутылки = the cap of/from a bottle

A learner might expect something more like a direct equivalent of English the jar’s lid, but Russian often prefers крышка от ... in everyday speech.

You can also see other structures in Russian depending on style and meaning, but крышка от банки is very natural and common.

Столом is in the instrumental case.

That is because под can take different cases depending on meaning:

• под + instrumental = under (location, where something is)
• под + accusative = to under (motion toward a position under something)

In this sentence, the lid is already located under the table:

• лежит под столом = is lying under the table

So Russian uses the instrumental:

• стол → столом

Compare:

• Крышка лежит под столом. = The lid is under the table.
• Он положил крышку под стол. = He put the lid under the table.

Russian often distinguishes the physical position of an object more specifically than English does.

лежать means to lie or to be lying. It is used for things that are in a horizontal position, or more generally for many objects resting somewhere.

So:

• Крышка лежит под столом. = The lid is lying under the table.

English often just says is:

• The lid is under the table.

Russian could sometimes use other verbs depending on the object and position:

• стоять = to stand
• лежать = to lie
• висеть = to hang

For a lid on the floor or under a table, лежит is very natural.

Because the subject is singular:

• Крышка = lid (singular)

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

Here:

• крышка = singular
• so лежит = singular, third person

If it were plural:

• Крышки лежат под столом. = The lids are lying under the table.

Yes. Крышка is the grammatical subject.

You can tell because:

1. It is in the nominative case.
2. The verb лежит agrees with it.
3. It is the thing doing the state/action of lying.

Structure:

• Крышка = subject
• от маленькой банки = description of which lid
• лежит = verb
• под столом = location

So the sentence means:

• The lid of the small jar is lying under the table.

Because it describes банки, and банка is a feminine noun.

The dictionary form is:

• маленькая банка

Both words are feminine singular in the base form.

After от, both go into the genitive singular, but they still keep the feminine agreement:

• маленькая банка → маленькой банки

So the adjective changes to match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Yes. Russian word order is fairly flexible, though the neutral order here is very natural:

• Крышка от маленькой банки лежит под столом.

You could also say:

• Под столом лежит крышка от маленькой банки.
• Крышка под столом лежит.

These are grammatically possible, but they change the emphasis.

For example:

• Под столом лежит крышка от маленькой банки. puts more focus on where it is.
• Крышка от маленькой банки лежит под столом. is a straightforward neutral statement.

English word order is more fixed, so this flexibility often stands out to learners.

It can mean different container types depending on context.

Common meanings of банка include:

• jar
• can
• sometimes even tin

So маленькая банка could be:

• a small jar
• a small can

The exact translation depends on the situation. Since your sentence already has its meaning shown, that context decides which English word fits best.

Russian has no articles like English a/an/the.

So:

• крышка can mean a lid or the lid
• маленькой банки can mean of a small jar or of the small jar

The exact meaning comes from context.

In this sentence, English will usually need an article, but Russian does not. That is completely normal.

Russian shows that through the case and the overall meaning of the sentence.

Here:

• под столом = under the table as a location
• столом is instrumental
• лежит describes a state/location, not movement

If the sentence described motion toward that place, Russian would usually use под + accusative:

• под стол = to under the table / under the table as a destination

So the case ending helps tell you whether it is:

• where? → под столом
• to where? → под стол

Not exactly, but it works in a similar way by identifying which lid.

The main noun is:

• крышка

Then от маленькой банки is a prepositional phrase attached to it:

• крышка от маленькой банки = the lid of the small jar

So it is not an adjective grammatically, but it functions as a modifier of крышка, helping specify what lid we mean. English often does the same with of phrases:

• the lid of the jar

Here are the dictionary forms:

• крышка → крышка
• от → от
• маленькой → маленький
• банки → банка
• лежит → лежать
• под → под
• столом → стол

So the sentence contains words that have changed form because of Russian grammar, especially case and verb conjugation.