Біля банкомата стояв шахрай.

Because біля (near / by) requires the genitive case.

The dictionary form is банкомат (ATM), but after біля it becomes:

• банкомат → nominative singular
• банкомата → genitive singular

So:

• біля банкомата = near the ATM

Біля takes the genitive case.

This is very common in Ukrainian. A few examples:

• біля будинку = near the house
• біля магазину = near the shop
• біля банкомата = near the ATM

So if you see біля, you should expect the next noun to be in the genitive.

Because шахрай is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

Here the structure is:

• Біля банкомата = location
• стояв = was standing / stood
• шахрай = the scammer / fraudster

Since шахрай is doing the action, it stays in the nominative singular.

In the past tense, Ukrainian verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

Here, шахрай is a masculine singular noun, so the verb is masculine singular too:

• стояв = masculine singular
• стояла = feminine singular
• стояло = neuter singular
• стояли = plural

So:

• шахрай стояв = the scammer was standing

The basic form is стояти, meaning to stand.

In the sentence, стояв is the past tense masculine singular form.

So:

• стояти = to stand
• стояв = stood / was standing (masculine subject)

It can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, English would most naturally often use was standing:

• Біля банкомата стояв шахрай.
• A scammer was standing near the ATM.

But stood is also possible in some contexts.

Ukrainian past tense does not force the same distinction that English often does between stood and was standing.

This is a matter of word order and emphasis.

Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English. Starting with Біля банкомата puts the location first, almost like setting the scene:

• Біля банкомата стояв шахрай.
  = Near the ATM, there was a scammer standing.

A more neutral order is also possible:

• Шахрай стояв біля банкомата.

Both are grammatical, but the original sentence emphasizes where the person was.

Yes, there is a slight difference.

• біля = near, by
• поруч із / поруч з = next to, beside

So біля банкомата means near the ATM, not necessarily directly right beside it.

If you wanted to stress that someone was right next to it, you might say:

• поруч із банкоматом

Notice that поруч із takes the instrumental case, so the noun changes differently:

• банкомат → банкоматом

Шахрай means fraudster, con artist, swindler, or scammer.

The best English translation depends on context. In a sentence about an ATM, scammer or fraudster is very natural.

So шахрай is a person who deceives others for money or gain.

Yes. Банкомат is a masculine noun.

You can tell partly from its dictionary form ending in a consonant:

• банкомат

That is why in the genitive singular it becomes:

• банкомата

This is a very common masculine pattern.

Because Ukrainian does not have articles like English a / an / the.

So:

• шахрай can mean a scammer or the scammer
• банкомата can mean an ATM or the ATM

The exact meaning depends on context. In many isolated examples, English will naturally use:

• A scammer was standing near the ATM.

But in another context it could be:

• The scammer was standing near the ATM.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Біля банкомата стояв шахрай
• BIL-ya banko-MA-ta sto-YAV shakh-RAY

Approximate stress:

• бі́ля
• банкома́та
• стоя́в
• шахра́й

The х in шахрай is like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach, not like English h.

Yes. Коло can also mean near / by and also takes the genitive case.

So these are both possible:

• біля банкомата
• коло банкомата

They are very similar in meaning. Біля is extremely common and natural here.

Yes, absolutely.

It has everything needed for a full sentence:

• Біля банкомата = adverbial phrase of place
• стояв = verb
• шахрай = subject

So it is a normal, complete Ukrainian sentence.

The main change would be the verb, because past tense agrees with the subject.

For example, if the subject were a feminine noun:

• Біля банкомата стояла жінка.
  = A woman was standing near the ATM.

Compare:

• стояв шахрай = a male scammer was standing
• стояла жінка = a woman was standing

So the past-tense verb ending is very important in Ukrainian.