Questions & Answers about Её нет за шторой.
Why is it шторой and not just штора?
The preposition за means 'behind'. When we talk about where something is located, за requires the Instrumental case. The dictionary form is the feminine noun штора (curtain), which changes its -а ending to -ой in the Instrumental case: шторой.
Why does the sentence start with Её (her) instead of Она (she)?
In Russian, to express that someone or something is absent ('is not here' or 'is not there'), we use the word нет followed by the Genitive case. Instead of saying 'She is not', Russians literally say 'Of her there is not': Её нет.
Doesn't the preposition за sometimes take the Accusative case?
Yes, it does! If someone is moving or going behind the curtain (destination or motion), you use the Accusative case: за штору. But since this sentence describes a fixed location (where she already is), we must use the Instrumental case: за шторой.
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