На полу лежали гантели, а у стены стояла штанга.

to stand

Breakdown of На полу лежали гантели, а у стены стояла штанга.

• на: on
• у: by
• лежать: to lie

Questions & Answers about На полу лежали гантели, а у стены стояла штанга.

Why is it на полу, not на пол?

Because Russian makes a basic distinction between location and movement.

• на пол = onto the floor (movement toward the floor)
• на полу = on the floor (location)

In this sentence, the dumbbells are already there, so Russian uses the location form: на полу.

What case is полу, and why does it look unusual?

полу is the form used after на to mean on the floor. It is one of those nouns that has a special location form, often called the locative or second prepositional.

So learners usually just memorize:

• пол = floor
• на полу = on the floor

It may look irregular, but it is completely standard Russian.

Why is it у стены? What does у mean here?

Here у means by, next to, or near.

It takes the genitive case, so:

• стена → стены

So у стены means by the wall or near the wall.

It does not mean or . It means the barbell was positioned beside the wall.