На столе лежит синий фломастер, которым дочка рисует плакат.

Because на столе answers the question where? and shows location: on the table.

• на + accusative often means motion toward a surface
  
  • положить на стол = to put onto the table
• на + prepositional often means location on a surface
  
  • лежать на столе = to lie on the table

So in this sentence, the marker is already there, so Russian uses на столе.

Лежит means is lying. Russian often prefers a specific positional verb instead of a general to be.

Here are some common ones:

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

So:

• На столе лежит фломастер = There is a marker lying on the table

Russian does not normally say something like На столе есть фломастер in this situation. Есть is possible in some contexts, but лежит sounds much more natural because it describes the object’s position.

Because фломастер is the subject of the main clause.

The main clause is:

• На столе лежит синий фломастер

Here, the thing doing the lying is фломастер, so it stays in the nominative singular:

• фломастер = nominative singular

Also, the adjective agrees with it:

• синий фломастер

Both are masculine singular nominative.

Because the subject is singular:

• фломастер = one marker

So the verb must also be singular:

• лежит = lies / is lying

If there were several markers, you would get:

• На столе лежат синие фломастеры = Blue markers are lying on the table

Которым is the relative pronoun which / that / with which.

It refers back to фломастер and introduces the relative clause:

• ..., которым дочка рисует плакат
• ..., with which the daughter is drawing a poster

So the full structure is:

• синий фломастер = the blue marker
• которым дочка рисует плакат = with which the daughter is drawing a poster

In English, we often use which or that. In Russian, который changes its form depending on gender, number, and case.

Because the pronoun is not the subject of the relative clause. It is the instrument used for drawing.

In the clause:

• дочка рисует плакат фломастером = the daughter is drawing a poster with a marker

The noun фломастер would normally appear in the instrumental case:

• фломастером

When that noun is replaced by который, the pronoun also has to be in the instrumental:

• которым

So:

• фломастер, которым дочка рисует плакат
• the marker with which the daughter is drawing a poster

A useful way to think about it:

1. Start with the simple clause: Дочка рисует плакат фломастером.
2. Replace фломастером with a relative pronoun.
3. You get: фломастер, которым дочка рисует плакат

It actually does match фломастер in gender and number, but its case is determined by its role inside the relative clause.

So которым is:

• masculine → because it refers to фломастер
• singular → because фломастер is singular
• instrumental → because inside the clause it means with which

That is a very important Russian rule:

A relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender and number, but its case depends on its function in the relative clause.

Because которым дочка рисует плакат is a relative clause modifying фломастер.

Russian normally separates this kind of clause with a comma:

• На столе лежит синий фломастер, которым дочка рисует плакат.

This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

• The blue marker, which the daughter is using to draw a poster, is on the table.

Дочка is a very common, natural word meaning daughter. It is related to дочь, but it often sounds warmer, more everyday, or more affectionate.

• дочь = daughter
• дочка = daughter, often with a slightly affectionate or familiar tone

In many contexts, Russian speakers prefer дочка in ordinary speech.

Grammatically here, дочка is nominative singular because it is the subject of рисует.

Because дочка is the subject of the subordinate clause:

• дочка рисует плакат = the daughter is drawing a poster

The daughter is the one doing the action, so Russian uses the nominative:

• дочка = nominative singular

Рисует is the imperfective present form. It is used for:

• an ongoing action
• a repeated or habitual action
• a process, not a completed result

Here the sentence describes what she is doing with the marker:

• дочка рисует плакат = the daughter is drawing a poster

If you used нарисует, that would be perfective future:

• дочка нарисует плакат = the daughter will draw / finish drawing the poster

So рисует fits much better here because the sentence focuses on the activity in progress.

Yes. Рисует плакат normally means is making/drawing a poster.

So the idea is that the daughter is creating the poster using that marker.

Compare:

• рисовать плакат = to draw/make a poster
• рисовать на плакате = to draw on a poster

In your sentence, плакат is the direct object of рисует, so the meaning is that the poster is what she is producing or working on.

Because it is the direct object of рисует.

• рисовать что? → плакат

For an inanimate masculine noun like плакат, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative: плакат
• accusative: плакат

So the form does not change, but the function does: here it is the object.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, although different orders can sound more natural in different contexts.

Your sentence:

• На столе лежит синий фломастер, которым дочка рисует плакат.

Other possible orders:

• Синий фломастер лежит на столе, которым дочка рисует плакат.
• На столе лежит фломастер синий, которым дочка рисует плакат. ← possible, but stylistically marked and less natural here

The original order sounds natural because it introduces the setting first:

• На столе = on the table

Then it presents the object:

• лежит синий фломастер

That is a common Russian pattern.

Yes, very much so.

Russian often uses a sentence with a location first and then a verb like лежит, стоит, or висит to introduce something’s presence:

• На столе лежит синий фломастер.

This can be understood as:

• There is a blue marker on the table
• more literally: On the table lies a blue marker

So this structure is very common in Russian for introducing an object in a location.

Because in normal neutral Russian, adjectives usually come before the noun:

• синий фломастер = blue marker

Putting the adjective after the noun is possible in some special contexts, but it would sound marked, poetic, contrastive, or less neutral. For everyday Russian, синий фломастер is the standard order.

Синий is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

It agrees with фломастер, which is also masculine singular nominative.

So:

• синий фломастер

If the noun changed, the adjective would change too:

• синяя ручка
• синее небо
• синие фломастеры

In natural English, yes, sometimes the most idiomatic translation may use that or even omit the relative pronoun:

• the blue marker that the daughter is using to draw a poster
• the blue marker the daughter is using to draw a poster

But grammatically, Russian которым specifically includes the idea of with which, because it is in the instrumental case.

So if you want to understand the Russian structure precisely, with which is the clearest translation.

No, not in the same way.

English can say:

• the marker the daughter is using

Russian normally needs the relative word:

• фломастер, которым дочка рисует плакат

You cannot simply remove которым and keep the sentence grammatical in standard Russian.

They are close, but not always exactly the same in usage.

• фломастер usually means felt-tip pen / coloring marker
• маркер often means marker more generally, especially a thick writing marker or highlighter in some contexts

In many everyday situations there is overlap, but фломастер is a very normal word for the kind of colored pen a child might use for drawing.

That fits this sentence well.

A little, yes. Relative clauses with который are completely normal, but they can sound more written or explicit than simpler alternatives.

For example, a more conversational version might be:

• На столе лежит синий фломастер. Дочка им рисует плакат.

Here:

• им = with it in the instrumental

But your original sentence is perfectly natural and grammatically standard. It is just a bit more tightly connected and slightly more book-like in style.

It has two parts:

1. Main clause

   • На столе лежит синий фломастер
   • A blue marker is lying on the table

2. Relative clause modifying фломастер

   • которым дочка рисует плакат
   • with which the daughter is drawing a poster

So the whole sentence means:

• On the table lies a blue marker with which the daughter is drawing a poster.

Or in more natural English:

• There is a blue marker on the table that the daughter is using to draw a poster.