К трапу подошёл автобус, и пассажиры начали выходить по рядам.

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Breakdown of К трапу подошёл автобус, и пассажиры начали выходить по рядам.

• к: to
• автобус: the bus
• начать: to begin

Questions & Answers about К трапу подошёл автобус, и пассажиры начали выходить по рядам.

What does трап mean here?

Трап in this context means the mobile staircase leading to an airplane.

So к трапу means up to the aircraft stairs.

This word can have other meanings in other contexts, but at an airport it normally refers to the boarding stairs.

Why is it к трапу? What case is трапу?

К normally takes the dative case, so:

• трап → nominative
• трапу → dative

So:

• к трапу = toward / up to the stairs

This is a very common pattern:

• к дому = to the house
• к двери = to the door
• к самолёту = to the airplane

Why is the verb подошёл?

Подойти means to come up to / approach.

So автобус подошёл к трапу literally means the bus came up to the stairs.

Even though a bus does not walk, Russian often uses подойти / подходить more broadly for something moving into position. In everyday speech, this is normal.

A more vehicle-specific verb like подъехал is also possible in many contexts, but подошёл emphasizes the idea of coming up to the stairs.

Why is it подошёл, not подошла or подошли?