Breakdown of У него в столе лежал пистолет.
стол
table / desk
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
лежать
to lie, be lying down
пистолет
the pistol (m)
Questions & Answers about У него в столе лежал пистолет.
Why does the sentence start with У него instead of using в его столе for "in his desk"?
While в его столе is grammatically correct, Russian frequently prefers using the у + genitive construction (у него) to show that something is happening in someone's personal space or domain. It sounds much more idiomatic to a native speaker than using the possessive pronoun его.
Why do we use the verb лежал (was lying) instead of just был (was)?
Russian strongly prefers using verbs of position over the simple verb "to be." Because a pistol rests flat, it "lies" (лежать). If you just used был, a Russian speaker would understand you, but using лежал, стоял (stood), or висел (hung) depending on the object's orientation is a hallmark of natural Russian.
Does в столе mean "in the table" or "in the desk"?
The word стол translates to both "table" and "desk." However, because it uses the preposition в (in/inside) rather than на (on), it implies being inside a drawer. In English, we usually call a table with drawers a desk, so "in the desk" is the most accurate translation here.
Why is the subject пистолет placed at the very end of the sentence?