Questions & Answers about За столом сидела пожилая дама.
Why is it за столом (Instrumental) instead of за стол (Accusative)?
The preposition за takes the Instrumental case when it describes a static location, answering the question "where?" (at or behind the table). If the sentence described motion to a destination, like the action of sitting down at the table, it would take the Accusative case: села за стол.
Why is the subject (пожилая дама) at the very end of the sentence?
Russian word order is very flexible, and the most important new information (the "rheme") usually goes at the end. By starting with the location (За столом) to set the scene, the sentence builds up to reveal who was sitting there as the main point of interest.
Why use the word пожилая here instead of старая?
Пожилая translates to "elderly" and is a polite, respectful way to describe an older person. Старая simply means "old" and can sound blunt, disrespectful, or overly direct when talking about people.
Why is the imperfective verb сидела used here instead of the perfective села?
Сидела describes an ongoing state or background action in the past—she "was sitting" there. If the sentence meant she performed the completed, one-time action of sitting down, it would use the perfective verb села.
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