На лестнице её подол зацепился за каблук, но она сразу это заметила.

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Breakdown of На лестнице её подол зацепился за каблук, но она сразу это заметила.

• но: but
• она: she
• её: her

Questions & Answers about На лестнице её подол зацепился за каблук, но она сразу это заметила.

Why does На лестнице mean on the stairs / on the staircase, and why is лестнице in that form?

Because на often means location when it is followed by the prepositional case.

• лестница = staircase, stairs
• на лестнице = on the stairs / on the staircase

The form лестнице is the prepositional singular of лестница.

So this part sets the scene: the event happened while she was on the stairs.

What does её mean here? Is it her or hers or something else?

Here её means her in the possessive sense:

• её подол = her hem

A useful thing to know is that её does not change form. It can mean:

• her
• hers
• sometimes her as an object, depending on context

In this sentence, it is clearly possessive because it comes before a noun: её подол.

What exactly does подол mean?

Подол means the hem or lower edge of a skirt or dress.

In this sentence, it most naturally means something like:

• the hem of her dress
• the hem of her skirt

So её подол is not a whole item of clothing, but specifically the part at the bottom.