Breakdown of Стоит дочке открыть альбом, как она сразу начинает рисовать.
открыть
to open
она
she
начинать
to start
сразу
immediately
Questions & Answers about Стоит дочке открыть альбом, как она сразу начинает рисовать.
What does the whole pattern Стоит ..., как ... mean here?
This is a set construction meaning as soon as ..., the moment ..., or no sooner ... than ....
So:
Стоит дочке открыть альбом, как она сразу начинает рисовать.
means roughly:
As soon as the daughter opens the album, she immediately starts drawing.
Literally, стоит usually means stands or is worth, but in this pattern it has a special idiomatic meaning: it only takes... / one need only....
A very literal unpacking would be:
It only takes the daughter to open the album, and she immediately starts drawing.
That is why the sentence sounds more natural in English as as soon as...
Why is стоит used here? Doesn’t it usually mean stands or costs/is worth?