Из-за слякоти у подъезда было грязно, и мы долго вытирали обувь.

Because it follows the preposition из-за, which in the meaning because of requires the genitive.

• из-за слякоти = because of the slush
• dictionary form: слякоть
• genitive singular: слякоти

So this is a normal prepositional pattern:

• из-за дождя = because of the rain
• из-за снега = because of the snow
• из-за слякоти = because of the slush

Here из-за means because of.

This preposition has two common meanings:

1. because of

   • из-за пробок = because of traffic jams
   • из-за слякоти = because of the slush

2. from behind

   • из-за дома = from behind the house

In this sentence, only the first meaning makes sense.

Слякоть refers to wet, dirty, half-melted snow and mud, especially the kind you get in late autumn or winter thaw. English does not always have one perfect word for it, so it may be translated as slush, muddy slush, or wet, dirty snow depending on context.

It is a very common Russian weather word because this condition is very common in many Russian-speaking places.

Because у подъезда means by the entrance / near the entrance, while в подъезде means inside the entrance area / inside the building entrance.

• у подъезда = outside, at the entrance, right by it
• в подъезде = inside the stairwell/entry area of an apartment building

In this sentence, у подъезда было грязно suggests the area around the entrance was dirty, probably because people were bringing in slush from outside.

In this context, подъезд usually means the entrance to an apartment building, often including the shared entryway/stairwell area typical in Russian apartment blocks.

This word can be confusing because a literal English learner might think of driveway or just approach, but in everyday Russian, подъезд very often means the building entrance used by residents.

Because this is an impersonal construction.

• грязно is not an adjective here; it is a predicative adverb/state word, meaning it was dirty or it was muddy/unclean there
• было is neuter singular past tense, the normal form used in many impersonal sentences

So:

• У подъезда было грязно = It was dirty by the entrance

There is no explicit subject like пол or двор. Russian often uses this structure to describe conditions:

• Здесь было холодно = It was cold here
• В комнате было тихо = It was quiet in the room
• У подъезда было грязно = It was dirty by the entrance

Because Russian often allows subjectless impersonal sentences when describing weather, conditions, atmosphere, or general states.

In English, we usually need it:

• It was dirty
• It was cold
• It was dark

In Russian, that dummy subject is often omitted:

• Было грязно
• Было холодно
• Было темно

So было грязно is completely normal and natural.

Подъезда is in the genitive singular because it follows the preposition у, which in this meaning takes the genitive.

• dictionary form: подъезд
• genitive singular: подъезда

Examples:

• у дома = by the house
• у окна = by the window
• у подъезда = by the entrance

Because the sentence focuses on the duration/process: мы долго вытирали обувь = we spent a long time wiping our shoes.

The adverb долго often goes naturally with the imperfective, because it emphasizes how long the action lasted.

Compare:

• мы долго вытирали обувь = we were wiping our shoes for a long time
• мы вытерли обувь = we wiped our shoes clean / finished wiping our shoes

So the imperfective here highlights the ongoing activity, not just the completed result.

Because обувь is a collective noun in Russian. It means footwear as a category, so it is grammatically singular even when the real-world meaning may involve a pair of shoes or multiple people’s shoes.

This is similar to how English sometimes uses footwear.

So:

• вытирать обувь = to wipe one’s shoes / footwear

If you wanted to be more specific, you could say:

• ботинки = boots
• туфли = shoes
• кроссовки = sneakers

But обувь is the broad, natural word here.

It usually means we wiped our shoes clean, often understood as wiping them on a mat, rag, or floor covering near the entrance.

Russian does not have to specify the surface if it is obvious from context. So вытирали обувь can naturally imply wiping our shoes off before going in.

Because и is joining two separate clauses, each with its own grammatical center:

1. у подъезда было грязно
2. мы долго вытирали обувь

In Russian, when и connects two independent clauses, a comma is normally used.

So the comma here is standard punctuation.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, but the original order is natural because it presents the cause first, then the result/situation.

• Из-за слякоти у подъезда было грязно, и мы долго вытирали обувь.

This sounds like:

1. because of the slush...
2. it was dirty by the entrance...
3. so we spent a long time wiping our shoes

You could change the order, but the emphasis would shift. For example:

• У подъезда было грязно из-за слякоти...

This puts the dirty condition first and the reason second.

Yes. In context, грязно can suggest not just dirty in a general sense, but specifically muddy / messy from slush and tracked-in dirt.

Russian грязно is broad:

• dirty
• filthy
• muddy
• messy

Because the sentence mentions слякоть, many learners should understand было грязно here as something like it was all muddy and messy near the entrance.