Я прочитал объявление у входа и понял, что семинар перенесли на вечер.

Russian often does drop subject pronouns, but not always.

In the past tense, прочитал and понял show gender and number, but not person. So прочитал could mean I read, you read, or he read, depending on context.

That is why Я is helpful here: it makes the subject explicit. Without it, the sentence could still be correct in the right context, but it would rely more heavily on previous information.

This is a question of aspect.

• прочитал is perfective
• читал is imperfective

The perfective прочитал means the action was completed: the speaker finished reading the notice and then understood something as a result.

That fits the sentence well, because there is a clear sequence:

1. he read the notice
2. he understood that the seminar had been moved

If you used читал, it would sound more like was reading or used to read, and it would not emphasize completion in the same way.

It is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of прочитал.

But for neuter inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is usually the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: объявление
• accusative: объявление

The form does not change, even though the case does.

Объявление usually means a notice, announcement, posted message, or sometimes an ad, depending on context.

In this sentence, because it says у входа, it most naturally means a posted notice/sign near the entrance, not an advertisement.

So the learner should picture something like a paper or sign posted at the entrance.

The preposition у requires the genitive case.

The noun вход becomes входа in the genitive singular:

• nominative: вход
• genitive: входа

So у входа means by the entrance, near the entrance, or at the entrance.

У входа means by the entrance or near the entrance.

It refers to location next to something, not inside it.

• у входа = by / near the entrance
• вход = entrance
• в входе would not normally be used this way
• на входе can exist in some contexts, but it usually does not mean the same thing as naturally as у входа here

For a posted notice physically placed near the doorway, у входа is very natural.

Again, this is aspect.

• понял = perfective
• понимал = imperfective

понял means realized / understood at that moment. It marks a completed moment of understanding.

That is exactly what the sentence describes: after reading the notice, the speaker realized that the seminar had been moved.

If you used понимал, it would suggest an ongoing state of understanding rather than a specific moment of realization.

In Russian, a comma is normally used before a subordinate clause introduced by что.

Here:

• main clause: Я прочитал объявление у входа и понял
• subordinate clause: что семинар перенесли на вечер

So the comma separates the main statement from the that-clause.

This is very standard Russian punctuation.

Что introduces a subordinate clause and means that here.

So:

• понял, что... = understood that...

It connects the verb of understanding with the content of what was understood.

This is a very common pattern in Russian:

• Я знаю, что... = I know that...
• Я думаю, что... = I think that...
• Я понял, что... = I understood that...

Because семинар is the subject of the subordinate clause:

• семинар перенесли на вечер

Even though English often says the seminar was moved, Russian here uses a different structure: literally something like they moved the seminar to the evening.

In that structure, семинар is the thing being moved, so you might expect accusative. And in fact, yes, semantically it is the object of перенесли. However, let's be careful: in this sentence, семинар is actually in the accusative form, but for this noun the accusative singular looks exactly like the nominative because it is an inanimate masculine noun.

So:

• nominative: семинар
• accusative: семинар

The form is the same.

This is a very common Russian construction.

Перенесли is 3rd person plural past tense, literally they moved/postponed/rescheduled. But often Russian uses this form when the specific people are unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.

So it can mean something like:

• they moved the seminar
• the seminar was moved
• someone rescheduled the seminar

English often prefers a passive here, but Russian very often uses this indefinite-personal plural instead.

Yes. Russian could use a passive-style construction, for example with a passive participle or a reflexive/passive form, depending on the verb and context.

But семинар перенесли на вечер is very natural, simple, and common in everyday Russian.

It often sounds more direct and idiomatic than a heavier passive construction. So even though English might say the seminar was moved to the evening, Russian frequently says the equivalent of they moved the seminar to the evening.

На вечер means something like to the evening or for the evening. It focuses on the new scheduled time slot.

So перенесли на вечер means rescheduled it for the evening.

By contrast:

• вечером means in the evening or during the evening
• на вечер means to an evening time / for the evening

After verbs like перенести meaning move/reschedule, на + accusative is very common:

• перенести на завтра = move to tomorrow
• перенести на понедельник = move to Monday
• перенести на вечер = move to the evening

Not necessarily.

На вечер means for the evening, but the exact day depends on context. If the seminar was supposed to happen that same day, then it may imply for this evening. But the phrase itself does not force that interpretation.

It simply tells you the event was moved to an evening time.

That is the usual marker of the Russian past tense.

In the singular past tense, Russian verbs also show gender:

• masculine: прочитал, понял
• feminine: прочитала, поняла
• neuter: прочитало, поняло
• plural: прочитали, поняли

So the forms in the sentence tell us the speaker is grammatically masculine singular.

Then the two verbs referring to Я would become feminine:

• Я прочитала объявление у входа и поняла, что семинар перенесли на вечер.

Only the verbs connected to Я change:

• прочитал → прочитала
• понял → поняла

But перенесли stays the same, because it refers to the unspecified people who moved the seminar.

No, Russian word order is fairly flexible, though not random.

This sentence is neutral and natural:

• Я прочитал объявление у входа и понял, что семинар перенесли на вечер.

But other orders are possible, depending on emphasis:

• У входа я прочитал объявление и понял, что семинар перенесли на вечер.
• Я понял, прочитав объявление у входа, что семинар перенесли на вечер.

Changing the order changes the focus or style, but the original version is a very normal, straightforward way to say it.

The main stress pattern is:

• Я прочита́л объявле́ние у вхо́да и по́нял, что семина́р перенесли́ на ве́чер.

A few especially useful stresses to remember:

• прочита́л
• объявле́ние
• вхо́да
• по́нял
• семина́р
• перенесли́
• ве́чер

Stress in Russian is important because it is not always predictable.