Word
Ночью форточка была закрыта, но в комнате всё равно было прохладно.
Meaning
At night the vent window was closed, but the room was still cool.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Ночью форточка была закрыта, но в комнате всё равно было прохладно.
в
in
быть
to be
комната
the room
закрыть
to close
Questions & Answers about Ночью форточка была закрыта, но в комнате всё равно было прохладно.
Why is ночью used here, and what case is it?
Ночью is the instrumental case of ночь.
In Russian, some time expressions use the instrumental without a preposition to mean during a certain part of the day or time period. So:
- утром = in the morning
- днём = during the day / in the daytime
- вечером = in the evening
- ночью = at night / during the night
So Ночью форточка была закрыта means At night, the vent window was closed.
This is a very common pattern, and it is best to learn these as fixed time expressions.
What exactly does форточка mean?
Форточка is a very specific kind of window: a small opening window, often a little top or side section of a larger window used for ventilation.
It is not just any window. A full window is окно, but форточка is the little part you open to let air in.
For many English speakers, there is no perfect everyday one-word translation, so you may see it translated as:
- vent window
- small window pane
- little window flap
- sometimes just window if the context is clear
Why is it была закрыта and not just закрылась or закрытая?