Breakdown of Вы читали этот текст ночью?
вы
you (plural or formal)
текст
text
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
читать
to read
Questions & Answers about Вы читали этот текст ночью?
Why does the verb читали end in -ли?
In the past tense, Russian verbs change based on gender and number, not the person. Because the pronoun is вы (you, plural or formal), the verb takes the plural past tense ending -ли. To form this, you take the dictionary form читать, drop the -ть, and add -ли.
Where is the word for "did" in this sentence?
Russian doesn't use helper verbs like "do" or "did" to make questions! You simply use the standard past tense verb читали and rely on a question mark (or a rising tone of voice when speaking) to show it is a question.
этот текст is the direct object being read. Why didn't the endings change?
Direct objects take the accusative case. However, текст is a masculine, inanimate (non-living) noun. For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative case looks exactly the same as the dictionary form. The word этот (this) also stays in its base form to match the noun.
Why is the word for "at night" ночью instead of just ночь?
ночь is the basic noun for "night". To say "at night" or "during the night", Russian puts the word into a special form (the instrumental case), making it ночью. You will see this pattern with other times of day too, like morning or evening.