Рано утром петух стоит у забора, а свинья уже ест.

Рано утром is a very common Russian expression meaning early in the morning.

• рано = early
• утром = in the morning

So Russian builds this idea with two words rather than one fixed adverb.

You may also see ранним утром, which also means early in the morning, but it is built differently:

• рано утром = more neutral, very common in everyday speech
• ранним утром = slightly more descriptive/literary

Both are correct.

Утром is the instrumental form of утро (morning).

Russian often uses parts of the day in the instrumental case to mean at/in that time:

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

So рано утром literally works like early, in-the-morning.

Russian normally uses the present tense of the verb itself and does not use a separate word for is in sentences like this.

• петух стоит = the rooster is standing
• literally: rooster stands

The verb стоять means to stand. In the present tense, стоит can mean:

• stands
• is standing
• sometimes even is located, depending on context

So here петух стоит у забора means the rooster is standing by the fence.

Because the preposition у requires the genitive case.

• dictionary form: забор = fence
• after у: у забора = by the fence / near the fence

This is very common in Russian:

• у дома = by the house
• у окна = by the window
• у дороги = by the road

So у забора is correct because у changes the noun to genitive.

It usually means by the fence or near the fence.

The preposition у often gives the idea of being right by or next to something. In English, the best translation depends on context:

• by the fence
• near the fence
• beside the fence

So in this sentence, the rooster is positioned close to the fence.

А often connects two ideas while also showing a contrast or comparison.

Here:

• петух стоит у забора = the rooster is standing by the fence
• а свинья уже ест = while the pig is already eating

So а is natural because the sentence is comparing what the two animals are doing.

Very roughly:

• и = and (simple addition)
• а = and / while / whereas (contrast or side-by-side comparison)

In this sentence, а feels more natural than и because the two actions are being set against each other.

Уже means already.

So:

• свинья уже ест = the pig is already eating

It adds the idea that the pig has started eating earlier than you might expect, or that this is already happening at that time.

Common uses of уже:

• Я уже дома. = I’m already home.
• Он уже знает. = He already knows.
• Мы уже едим. = We’re already eating.

Both can mean eats / is eating, but есть is the more basic and neutral verb.

• есть = neutral, standard verb to eat
• кушать = also to eat, but often softer, more colloquial, sometimes used with children or polite speech

So свинья уже ест is the most straightforward, standard way to say the pig is already eating.

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

So:

• петух can mean a rooster or the rooster
• свинья can mean a pig or the pig
• забор can mean a fence or the fence

The exact meaning comes from context. In a sentence like this, English usually chooses the rooster, the fence, and the pig, but Russian does not need separate words for that.

Russian often leaves out subject pronouns when the noun is already present or when the meaning is clear.

Here the nouns themselves are the subjects:

• петух стоит
• свинья ест

There is no need to add pronouns like he or it.

Also, Russian normally does not use a present-tense form of to be in this kind of sentence, so you do not get something like петух есть стоящий or свинья есть ест. That would be wrong.

Russian word order is more flexible than English, but the original order is the most natural neutral version.

Neutral order:

• Рано утром петух стоит у забора, а свинья уже ест.

You could move words around for emphasis, for example:

• Петух рано утром стоит у забора, а свинья уже ест.
• Рано утром у забора стоит петух, а свинья уже ест.

These are possible, but they shift emphasis slightly. For learners, the original version is a good standard pattern.

Because а is joining two clauses, and Russian normally puts a comma before it.

The two clauses are:

1. Рано утром петух стоит у забора
2. а свинья уже ест

This is standard Russian punctuation. You also often see a comma before conjunctions like но and sometimes и when they join full clauses.

Yes, both are present tense:

• стоит = present tense of стоять
• ест = present tense of есть

Russian present tense can cover both English ideas:

• stands / is standing
• eats / is eating

The exact English translation depends on context. In this sentence, English would probably use:

• the rooster is standing by the fence
• the pig is already eating

That sounds most natural, even though Russian uses just the simple present forms.