Во дворе стоял старый улей, и дедушка проверял его каждое утро.

Both в and во mean in, but во is used before some consonant clusters because it is easier to pronounce.

Here, дворе starts with дв-, so Russian prefers:

• во дворе = in the yard / in the courtyard

This is very common. Compare:

• в доме = in the house
• во дворе = in the yard
• во сне = in a dream

Also, дворе is in the prepositional case because it follows в in a location meaning.

• двор = yard, courtyard
• в / во + prepositional = in / at a place

So:

• двор → во дворе

Дворе is prepositional singular.

The phrase во дворе answers the question where? So Russian uses:

• в / во + prepositional for location

Examples:

• в комнате = in the room
• в саду = in the garden
• во дворе = in the yard

So in this sentence:

• Во дворе = In the yard / courtyard

It is not accusative, because this is not motion into the yard. If it were motion, you would use accusative:

• идти во двор = to go into the yard

But here the hive is already there, so location is needed:

• стоял во дворе = was standing in the yard

Russian often uses position verbs like:

• стоять = to stand
• лежать = to lie
• сидеть = to sit

where English often just says be, be located, or be there.

So:

• Во дворе стоял старый улей literally = In the yard stood an old beehive
• natural English = There was an old beehive in the yard

Russian treats many objects as standing if they are upright or positioned that way. A hive is something that can naturally be described as стоял.

So стоял here does not necessarily mean someone physically placed it upright at that moment; it just describes its position/location.

Because улей is a masculine singular noun.

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

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

Since the subject is:

• улей = masculine singular

the verb must be:

• стоял

So:

• старый улей стоял = the old hive stood / was standing

Both are possible, but the word order changes the focus.

Во дворе стоял старый улей

This sounds more descriptive and natural in narration. It sets the scene first:

• In the yard, there stood an old beehive

This often introduces new information.

Старый улей стоял во дворе

This puts more focus on старый улей first:

• The old hive was standing in the yard

Russian word order is more flexible than English. The version in your sentence is very natural because it begins with the setting, then introduces the object.

Старый улей is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the clause.

Breakdown:

• старый = old, masculine singular nominative
• улей = hive, masculine singular nominative

Even though it comes after the verb, it is still the subject:

• Во дворе стоял старый улей

Russian does not need the subject to come first.

This is a very common point of confusion.

Some Russian nouns referring to males end in -а or -я, but they are still masculine. Дедушка is one of them.

So although it looks like many feminine nouns in form, its grammar is masculine:

• добрый дедушка
• дедушка проверял (not проверяла)

Other similar words:

• папа = dad
• дядя = uncle
• мужчина = man
• юноша = youth/young man

So the gender is based on meaning and declension pattern together, not just the final letter.

Because the sentence describes a habitual repeated action:

• каждое утро = every morning

Russian uses the imperfective aspect for repeated, habitual, ongoing, or process-like actions.

• проверял = was checking / checked regularly
• проверил = checked, completed once

So:

• дедушка проверял его каждое утро = Grandpa checked it every morning

If you said проверил, it would sound like a single completed event, which clashes with every morning unless you were talking about one particular morning in a sequence.

Because его is the object form of the pronoun, while он is the subject form.

• он = he / it (subject)
• его = him / it (object, among other uses)

In this sentence, его refers back to улей and means it:

• дедушка проверял его = Grandpa checked it

So:

• он would be wrong here because он can only be the subject
• его is needed because the hive is the direct object of проверял

Because Russian personal pronouns do not work exactly like noun endings.

For a masculine inanimate noun, the accusative noun form is often the same as nominative:

• Я вижу стол = I see the table

But for pronouns, Russian uses special object forms:

• он → его

So even though улей is inanimate, when you replace it with a pronoun, you still get:

• проверял его = checked it

That is just the normal accusative form of the pronoun.

Каждое утро is in the accusative singular.

Russian often uses the accusative for expressions of time when meaning every, each, or indicating repeated time:

• каждый день = every day
• каждую неделю = every week
• каждое утро = every morning

Here:

• утро is a neuter noun
• каждое agrees with it in gender, number, and case

So:

• каждое утро = every morning

This is a standard time expression and is very common.

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

1. Во дворе стоял старый улей
2. дедушка проверял его каждое утро

Since these are two independent parts of a compound sentence, Russian uses a comma before и.

This is similar to English:

• There was an old hive in the yard, and Grandpa checked it every morning.

If и only connected two words, not two clauses, there would be no comma:

• старый улей и забор = an old hive and a fence

Yes. That is a very close literal translation.

Word-for-word-ish:

• Во дворе = in the yard
• стоял = stood / was standing
• старый улей = an old hive
• и = and
• дедушка = Grandpa / grandfather
• проверял его = was checking it / checked it regularly
• каждое утро = every morning

A natural English translation would usually be:

• There was an old beehive in the yard, and Grandpa checked it every morning.

So the literal version is useful for understanding the Russian structure, but the more natural English version may sound different.

It is a little unusual because of the -ей ending, but it is a normal masculine noun once you learn its forms.

Common singular forms:

• nominative: улей
• genitive: улья
• dative: улью
• accusative: улей
• instrumental: ульем
• prepositional: об улье

So in this sentence, it appears as:

• улей = nominative singular

And when replaced by a pronoun:

• его = it

Learners often just need a bit of practice with the stem change улей → уль- in some forms.

Sometimes yes, but the meaning or tone can differ.

• во дворе usually means physically in the yard / courtyard
• на дворе can also refer to the yard, but it often sounds more like outside, or can be used in idiomatic expressions

For this sentence, во дворе is the most straightforward and neutral choice for location of the hive.

Examples:

• Во дворе стоял сарай. = There was a shed in the yard.
• На дворе холодно. = It is cold outside.

So for a clearly located object inside the courtyard area, во дворе is the best fit.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Because проверял is imperfective past, it does not by itself force one single English translation. It can mean:

• was checking
• checked
• used to check

In this sentence, because of каждое утро, the best English choice is usually:

• checked
• or used to check

So:

• дедушка проверял его каждое утро = Grandpa checked it every morning
• or Grandpa used to check it every morning

Was checking it every morning is possible in a grammar-focused explanation, but less natural in ordinary English.

Russian often does not need an equivalent of English there is / there was.

English says:

• There was an old hive in the yard

Russian often simply uses a location plus a verb:

• Во дворе стоял старый улей

So Russian expresses the same idea without a dummy subject like English there.

This is very common:

• На столе лежала книга. = There was a book on the table.
• В комнате сидели дети. = There were children sitting in the room.

So the Russian sentence is perfectly complete without any extra word meaning there.