На пикник мы взяли маленькую колонку и включили тихую музыку.

In Russian, на + accusative is often used for events or activities that you go to or do for a purpose:

• на концерт = to a concert
• на работу = to work
• на пикник = on/to a picnic

So На пикник мы взяли... means something like For the picnic / On the picnic, we took...

Using в пикник would sound wrong here.

Пикник is in the accusative singular here.

The preposition на can take different cases, but when it shows direction, purpose, or destination, it usually takes the accusative:

• на пикник = to/for a picnic

Since пикник is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form looks the same as the nominative:

• nominative: пикник
• accusative: пикник

So the form does not change, but the case is still accusative.

Yes, мы could be omitted.

Russian often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear:

• Взяли маленькую колонку и включили тихую музыку.

Because взяли and включили are plural past-tense forms, the listener can understand that the subject is we from context.

Including мы adds a bit of emphasis or clarity. It can feel like:

• We took a small speaker...
• As for us, we took...

Russian word order is flexible, and the beginning of the sentence often shows what the speaker wants to highlight first.

Starting with На пикник puts the picnic in the foreground:

• На пикник мы взяли... = For the picnic, we took...

A more neutral order would also be possible:

• Мы взяли на пикник маленькую колонку и включили тихую музыку.

Both are correct, but the original sentence emphasizes the setting/purpose first.

Взяли is the past tense plural of взять.

It tells us:

• the action happened in the past
• the subject is plural (we)
• the verb is perfective

The verb pair is:

• брать = to take, be taking (imperfective)
• взять = to take (perfective, completed action)

Here взяли is used because the action is seen as completed: they took the speaker with them.

Because the sentence describes a sequence of completed actions:

1. they took the speaker
2. they turned on the music

Russian commonly uses perfective verbs for finished, whole actions in narration:

• взяли = took
• включили = turned on / switched on

If the sentence were focusing on process, repetition, or background action, imperfective might be used instead.

Because колонку is a feminine singular direct object, so it is in the accusative case, and the adjective must agree with it.

Base forms:

• маленькая колонка = a small speaker

In the accusative singular feminine:

• маленькая → маленькую
• колонка → колонку

So:

• взяли маленькую колонку = took a small speaker

This is standard adjective-noun agreement in Russian.

Yes, колонка can mean different things depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• a column
• a speaker / loudspeaker
• in modern everyday Russian, often a portable speaker or Bluetooth speaker

In this sentence, because they took it to a picnic and then turned on music, маленькая колонка clearly means a small speaker.

Because тихую is an adjective describing the noun музыку.

• тихая музыка = quiet music
• accusative: тихую музыку

If you used тихо, that would be an adverb, meaning quietly. That would describe how something is done, not what kind of music it is.

So compare:

• включили тихую музыку = turned on quiet music
• включили музыку тихо = turned on the music quietly

Those mean different things.

Музыку is the accusative singular of музыка because it is the direct object of включили.

Base form:

• музыка

Accusative singular:

• музыку

So:

• включили музыку = turned on music

Since тихую describes музыку, it also takes the matching accusative feminine singular form.

It means turned on the music, put on music, or started playing music, depending on context.

The verb включить literally means to switch on / turn on. With devices, sounds, music, lights, etc., it often works just like English turn on:

• включить свет = turn on the light
• включить телевизор = turn on the TV
• включить музыку = turn on / put on music

So in this sentence, they used the speaker and started playing quiet music.

Russian does not have articles like a, an, or the.

So:

• маленькую колонку can mean a small speaker or the small speaker
• тихую музыку can mean quiet music, some quiet music, or the quiet music

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English would most naturally use a small speaker and some/quiet music, but Russian does not need separate article words.

Yes. Even though the Russian is fixed, natural English can vary a bit. For example:

• We took a small speaker to the picnic and put on some quiet music.
• For the picnic, we took a small speaker and turned on some quiet music.
• We brought a small speaker on the picnic and played some quiet music.

The exact English wording may change, but the Russian grammar stays the same.