Ливень был такой сильный, что я надела дождевик и всё равно промокла.

Ливень means a downpour, a heavy shower, or torrential rain. It is stronger and more dramatic than the basic word дождь (rain).

So:

• дождь = rain
• ливень = a very heavy rain / downpour

In this sentence, ливень is used because the rain was intense enough that the speaker still got soaked even while wearing a raincoat.

Because был is the past-tense form that agrees with a masculine singular noun, and ливень is masculine singular.

Past tense in Russian agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• был = masculine singular
• была = feminine singular
• было = neuter singular
• были = plural

So:

• ливень был = the downpour was

The pattern такой ... что ... means so ... that ...

So:

• Ливень был такой сильный, что... = The downpour was so strong/heavy that...

This is a very common Russian structure for showing a result:

• Он был такой уставший, что сразу уснул.
  He was so tired that he fell asleep immediately.

You could say очень сильный (very strong/heavy), but такой сильный, что... specifically sets up the consequence that follows.

Сильный is a masculine singular adjective in the nominative, agreeing with ливень.

• ливень = masculine singular
• therefore сильный = masculine singular nominative

Even though English says heavy rain, Russian often uses сильный (strong) with weather:

• сильный дождь = heavy rain
• сильный ветер = strong wind

So такой сильный literally looks like such a strong one, but naturally it means so heavy here.

Here что means that and introduces the result clause.

Structure:

• Ливень был такой сильный = The downpour was so heavy
• что я надела дождевик и всё равно промокла = that I put on a raincoat and still got soaked

So что connects the cause/result relationship.

The word is spelled надела and means put on.

It is the past tense of надеть (to put on [something]).
In this sentence:

• я надела дождевик = I put on a raincoat

Also, надела is the feminine singular past form, so the speaker is female.

Compare:

• я надел = I put on... (male speaker)
• я надела = I put on... (female speaker)

This is a very common learner question.

• надеть = to put on an item of clothing
  
  • надеть дождевик
  • надеть шапку
• одеть = to dress someone
  • одеть ребёнка = to dress a child

A useful shortcut:

• надеть что? = put on what?
• одеть кого? = dress whom?

So in this sentence, надела дождевик is correct because the speaker put on a raincoat.

Дождевик is the direct object of надела, so it is in the accusative case.

However, дождевик is:

• masculine
• singular
• inanimate

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: дождевик
• accusative: дождевик

That is why there is no visible ending change here.

Всё равно here means still, all the same, or anyway.

So:

• и всё равно промокла = and still got soaked

It shows that even though the speaker took a protective action, the result happened anyway.

Examples:

• Я взял зонт, но всё равно промок.
  I took an umbrella, but I still got wet.
• Он много учился, но всё равно волновался.
  He studied a lot, but he was still nervous.

It is a fixed expression and very common in everyday Russian.

Промокла means got soaked, got drenched, or became thoroughly wet.

It comes from промокнуть, which is a perfective verb. Perfective verbs usually focus on a completed result.

So промокла does not just mean was getting wet; it means the speaker ended up soaked.

Also, like надела, it is feminine singular past tense:

• промок = a man got soaked
• промокла = a woman got soaked

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

The subject is я (I), and Russian shows the speaker’s gender in the past tense:

• я надел / я промок = male speaker
• я надела / я промокла = female speaker

So this sentence tells us the speaker is female.

This is something English does not show in the verb, so it often stands out to English-speaking learners.

Yes, but the meaning would shift slightly.

• промокла = got soaked / became drenched
  This emphasizes the result of the action.
• была мокрая = was wet
  This describes a state, not the moment/result of becoming soaked.

So:

• ...и всё равно промокла = and still got soaked
• ...и всё равно была мокрая = and was still wet

The version with промокла is more natural here because it fits the cause-and-result story.

The word order is natural, but Russian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The sentence as written is straightforward and neutral:

• Ливень был такой сильный, что я надела дождевик и всё равно промокла.

You could move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Я надела дождевик, но всё равно промокла, потому что ливень был такой сильный.

That changes the focus a bit, but the basic meaning stays similar.

In the original sentence, the emphasis is first on the strength of the downpour, and then on the consequence.

Because надела and промокла share the same subject, я, and form a simple coordinated pair of actions:

• я надела дождевик и всё равно промокла

In Russian, you normally do not put a comma before и when it connects two verbs with the same subject inside one clause.

But there is a comma before что, because что introduces a subordinate clause:

• Ливень был такой сильный, что...

So the punctuation is exactly what you would expect in standard Russian.

Yes. Russian often uses сильный where English uses strong or heavy, depending on context.

With weather, сильный is very common:

• сильный дождь = heavy rain
• сильный ливень = heavy downpour
• сильный снег = heavy snowfall
• сильный ветер = strong wind

So even though the literal meaning of сильный is strong, in weather contexts it often translates naturally as heavy.