У бабушки во дворе бегал цыплёнок, а второй прятался у двери курятника.

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Breakdown of У бабушки во дворе бегал цыплёнок, а второй прятался у двери курятника.

• дверь: the door
• у: by
• у: at

Questions & Answers about У бабушки во дворе бегал цыплёнок, а второй прятался у двери курятника.

Why does у бабушки mean something like at grandma’s place instead of by grandma?

In Russian, у + genitive often means at someone’s place / in someone’s possession / near someone.

So у бабушки literally looks like by grandmother, but in context it commonly means:

• at grandma’s
• in grandma’s yard/household

Here it combines naturally with во дворе:

• У бабушки во дворе = In grandma’s yard / At grandma’s, in the yard

Also note the case:

• бабушка → бабушки after у because у requires the genitive.

Why is it во дворе, not just в дворе?

Both come from the preposition в meaning in, but Russian often uses во instead of в for easier pronunciation before certain consonant combinations.

So:

• в + дворе would be awkward to pronounce
• therefore Russian uses во дворе

This is a pronunciation-driven variant, not a different meaning.

Compare:

• в доме = in the house
• во дворе = in the yard