В пенале у моей подруги всегда лежит маленькая точилка и ластик.

Because в can take different cases depending on the meaning:

• в + accusative = motion into something
  
  • положить в пенал = to put into the pencil case
• в + prepositional = location in something
  
  • в пенале = in the pencil case

Here the sentence describes where the objects are, not movement, so Russian uses the prepositional case: в пенале.

Literally, у моей подруги means at my female friend’s place / by my female friend.

Russian often expresses possession with у + genitive, especially in everyday speech. So instead of saying something like my friend’s in the English way, Russian often says something closer to at my friend.

Here:

• у requires the genitive case
• подруга → подруги
• моя → моей to agree with подруги

So у моей подруги means something like belonging to my friend / with my friend.

Yes, absolutely.

• в пенале моей подруги = in my friend’s pencil case
• в пенале у моей подруги = also natural, but it uses the common Russian у + genitive possession pattern

Both are understandable and natural. The version with у моей подруги sounds a bit more conversational and “Russian-like” in everyday speech.

Russian often uses specific position verbs where English just uses is.

• лежать = to lie
• стоять = to stand
• висеть = to hang

So лежит is used because the sharpener and eraser are understood as objects lying inside the pencil case.

In English we usually just say there is or there are, but Russian often prefers a more concrete verb. So лежит sounds very natural here.

Because Russian does not normally use a separate present-tense copula like English is in this kind of sentence.

The verb лежит already does the job of the predicate:

• лежит = is lying / lies

So Russian does not need another word for is here.

Compare:

• В пенале есть ластик. = There is an eraser in the pencil case.
  This focuses on existence/availability.
• В пенале лежит ластик. = An eraser is lying in the pencil case.
  This sounds more physical and descriptive.

This is a very common learner question.

In Russian, when the verb comes before a compound subject and the sentence is presenting what is found somewhere, singular agreement is often possible:

• лежит маленькая точилка и ластик

This has a presentational feel: there lies / there is ...

You may also hear or see the plural:

• лежат маленькая точилка и ластик

That is also natural, and in careful grammar it may feel more straightforward because there are two items.

So the singular here is not strange; it is a normal pattern in Russian when listing items after the verb.

They are in the nominative case, because they are the things that are lying in the pencil case.

• точилка is feminine singular nominative
• ластик is masculine singular nominative
• маленькая is feminine singular nominative because it agrees with точилка

So:

• маленькая точилка = a small sharpener
• ластик = an eraser

The adjective only matches the noun it directly describes.

Normally, it describes only точилка.

So the most natural reading is:

• a small sharpener and an eraser

If you wanted to say that both items are small, Russian would usually make that clearer, for example:

• маленькая точилка и маленький ластик
• or sometimes маленькие точилка и ластик

The sentence as written most clearly applies маленькая just to точилка.

Russian word order is much more flexible than English word order. This sentence starts with the location and then introduces what is there:

• В пенале = sets the scene: in the pencil case
• у моей подруги = whose pencil case / whose possession
• всегда = adds the idea of always
• лежит маленькая точилка и ластик = presents the items

This order sounds natural because it moves from place to owner to what is there.

English usually needs a more fixed order, but Russian can rearrange things to change focus and emphasis.

Всегда means always, and in Russian adverbs like this can move around more freely than in English.

Here it appears before the verb:

• всегда лежит

That is a very natural position. It emphasizes that this is the usual state of things: the sharpener and eraser are always there.

Other word orders are possible, but this one is smooth and standard.

Because Russian has no articles.

So точилка can mean:

• a sharpener
• the sharpener

and ластик can mean:

• an eraser
• the eraser

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English will usually translate it as a small sharpener and an eraser, because the sentence sounds like it is introducing those objects rather than referring back to already-known ones.