За углом открылась маленькая булочная, и там пахнет свежим хлебом.

За углом means around the corner.

Here углом is in the instrumental case. With за, Russian uses:

• accusative for motion to a position (за угол = to behind/around the corner)
• instrumental for location (за углом = behind/around the corner)

So in this sentence, it describes where the bakery is located: around the corner.

Literally, it is something like behind the corner, but in natural English the usual translation is around the corner.

Because the subject is булочная, and булочная is a feminine singular noun.

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

• masculine: открылся
• feminine: открылась
• neuter: открылось
• plural: открылись

So:

• булочная открылась = the bakery opened

Открылась is the reflexive form of открыть / открыться.

This matters because Russian distinguishes between:

• кто-то открыл булочную = someone opened the bakery
• булочная открылась = the bakery opened / a bakery opened up

So открылась is used when the bakery itself is presented as the thing that came into operation, without naming the person who opened it.

It often feels natural in Russian in contexts where English says:

• A small bakery opened around the corner
• A new shop has opened around the corner

It can correspond to any of those in English depending on context.

Because открылась is perfective past, it presents the opening as a completed event. In English, that can be translated in different ways:

• a small bakery opened
• a small bakery has opened
• a small bakery opened up

All are possible depending on the wider situation and style.

Because маленькая булочная is the subject of the verb открылась.

Even though it comes after the verb, it is still the subject. Russian word order is flexible, so the subject does not have to come first.

• маленькая булочная открылась
• открылась маленькая булочная

Both are grammatically correct. The second version sounds more natural here because it introduces new information: what opened around the corner? A small bakery.

Russian often puts known or setting information first, and new or important information later.

So the sentence structure is roughly:

• За углом = setting/location
• открылась маленькая булочная = new event/information

This gives a natural flow: first where, then what happened.

English can do something similar:

• Around the corner, a small bakery has opened

But English more often says:

• A small bakery has opened around the corner

Russian is freer here.

Because the verb пахнуть commonly takes the thing smelled in the instrumental case.

So:

• пахнет хлебом = it smells like bread / it smells of bread
• пахнет кофе can also occur in modern usage, but пахнет кофе is different because кофе is indeclinable in everyday speech; with a declinable noun, the instrumental pattern is very clear
• пахнет свежим хлебом = it smells of fresh bread

The adjective also agrees with the noun:

• свежий хлеб → nominative
• свежим хлебом → instrumental

This is a very common Russian pattern. Пахнет here is used impersonally.

Russian often says simply:

• Там пахнет хлебом = It smells like bread there / It smells of bread there

There is no explicit subject like English it. English needs a dummy subject (it smells), but Russian does not.

So пахнет by itself is perfectly normal.

Там means there, and it points back to that place — essentially, in that bakery / in that spot / there.

It adds a sense like:

• and it smells of fresh bread there
• and there it smells like fresh bread

Without там, the sentence would still be grammatical:

• За углом открылась маленькая булочная, и пахнет свежим хлебом.

But там helps anchor the second part to that location more clearly.

This is a very natural choice if the speaker means:

• A small bakery opened around the corner, and it smells of fresh bread there now.

So the first verb describes a past event:

• открылась = it opened

The second describes a current state:

• пахнет = it smells

Russian can mix tenses like this when the timeline makes sense.

If the speaker wanted everything purely in the past, they could say:

• За углом открылась маленькая булочная, и там пахло свежим хлебом.

That would mean something more like:

• A small bakery opened around the corner, and it smelled of fresh bread there.

So the present tense here likely emphasizes the bakery’s current appealing atmosphere.

They are related, but not always identical.

• булочная is a bakery shop, traditionally a place where bread and baked goods are sold
• пекарня is a bakery in the sense of a place where bread is baked, though it can also be used for a bakery shop

In modern usage, the difference is not always strict, but булочная often makes English speakers think more of a bread shop / bakery, while пекарня can sound more like the actual baking establishment.

In this sentence, булочная fits well because the focus is on a cozy neighborhood bakery that smells of fresh bread.

Its basic meaning is simply small.

So:

• маленькая булочная = a small bakery

But depending on context, маленькая can also contribute to a warm, charming image — something like a little bakery in English.

So even though the literal meaning is small, the overall feel can be cozy or inviting.

Yes, absolutely. Russian allows several word orders here.

For example:

• За углом открылась маленькая булочная
• Маленькая булочная открылась за углом

Both are correct, but they feel slightly different.

• За углом открылась маленькая булочная focuses first on the location, then introduces the bakery as new information.
• Маленькая булочная открылась за углом starts with the bakery itself.

The version in your sentence sounds very natural if the speaker is excitedly pointing out something new in the neighborhood.